COVID-19: Daily caseload falls to 3,168 in 45 localities

Vietnam has detected 3,159 new coronavirus cases and nine imported cases in 45 cities and provinces across the country over the past 24 hours, a fall of 16 cases compared to the previous day, the Ministry of Health said in its coronavirus update on October 18.

Taking nasal swabs for COVID-19 testing in Hanoi.

As many as 1,261 cases were recorded in the community through random testing or test screening.

The epicenter of the current outbreak remains in the south, but it is showing signs of waning, with Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Soc Trang and An Giang correspondingly registering 968, 439, 393, 174 and 109 new cases.

In the north, all eyes are now on the outbreak at schools in Phu Tho province that recorded an additional 58 new cases, according to the Ministry of Health. More than 100 cases have been confirmed in Phu Tho linked to the outbreak at a local school.

Meanwhile, the north-central province of Thanh Hoa also detected 42 new cases, including 24 cases in Bim Son town where an outbreak occurred few days ago. So far a total of 86 people, including 37 students and teachers, have been diagnosed with the virus in Bim Son.

As of 06pm on October 18 Vietnam has documented 867,221 COVID-19 cases since the start of the first outbreak in January 2020, ranking 40th out of 223 countries and territories worldwide.

Of the total, 792,980 patients have been discharged from hospital after making a full recovery from the disease, including 1,136 recoveries announced on October 18.

The MoH has also confirmed 75 COVID-19 deaths during the past 24 hours, with HCM City and Binh Duong reporting 51 and 14 fatalities respectively.

The October 18 figure has raised the COVID-19 death toll in Vietnam to 21,269, making up 2.5% of the total number of infections.

More than 63 million vaccine doses have been administered nationwide, with 18.1 million people getting their second shot.