COVID-19: Vietnam records nearly 13,800 new infections, 173 new deaths

Vietnam has recorded 13,770 new coronavirus cases with more than half diagnosed in the community during the past 24 hours, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in its coronavirus update on November 29.

Official data from the MoH showed an additional 173 people have died and 16,088 more patients have recovered from the disease.

Most of the new cases were recorded in southern Vietnam, with Ho Chi Minh City registering the highest number at 1,554. It was followed by Can Tho, Tay Ninh, Binh Duong, Ba Ria – Vung Tau, Dong Thap, and Soc Trang that reported between 600 and 1,000 cases each.

The outbreak remains complicated in the north where hundreds of community cases of unknown sources were found. Notably, Hanoi capital topped northern localities with 429 new cases, the highest figure recorded on a single day.

There were also sharp rises in infection numbers in Ha Giang and Bac Ninh provinces that saw 163 and 145 cases detected respectively.

Elsewhere Nghe An and Thua Thien-Hue in central Vietnam registered more than 100 new cases each, while Dak Nong province in the Central Highlands reported nearly 100 cases.

As of 06pm on November 29 Vietnam has documented 1,224,110 COVID-19 cases since the start of the first outbreak in January 2020, ranking 35th out of 223 countries and territories worldwide.

Of the total, 974,724 patients have been discharged from hospital after making a full recovery from the disease.

As many as 25,055 patients have died of the virus, making up 2% of the total number of infections.

About 120.6 million vaccine doses have been administered nationwide, with nearly 50 million people getting their second shot.