Vietnam hits record high of 447 in latest wave's daily tally

The Ministry of Health on May 25 confirmed a total of 447 new COVID-19 cases, including three imported infections in Tien Giang , and 444 across 10 localities, Bac Giang taking the most at 375.

The 444 cases recorded domestically comprise 375 in Bac Giang, Bac Ninh (28), Hanoi (23), Lang Son (7), Ha Nam (5), Da Nang (2), Thai Binh (1), and one each in Ho Chi Minh City, Dien Bien, and K Hospital’s Tan Trieu facility.

Notably, the latest cases found in Hanoi are COVID-19 clusters associated with either the T&T Company or buildings in Times City, which is owned by Vingroup, while some cases are related to Hung Yen and Da Nang clusters.

The majority of cases in Bac Giang and Bac Ninh are involved in clusters of infection at industrial parks.

With the latest cases, the overall tally of local infections has reached 4,362, with 1,489 being imported infections.

Meanwhile, Hanoi has also registered a growing number of local cases over recent days.

For the second time this month, Dinh Tien Dung, secretary of the Hanoi municipal Party Committee, has affirmed that in the immediate future the city will not consider imposing isolation on the whole city, with strong measures to only be taken in the event that the situation becomes more complicated.

Talking to the press on the morning of May 25, Dung said that amid a complicated COVID-19 situation in the capital, with two new clusters of cases, the municipal Party Committee has agreed to issue a new dispatch relating to pandemic prevention and control.

In line with this, the capital has moved to increase pandemic prevention and control to a higher level, whilst also deciding to suspend eating in at restaurants and other food and beverage service establishments, with only takeaways permitted from noon on May 25.

In addition, citizens must suspend recreational activities, physical exercises, and large gatherings at public places, whilst returnees to Hanoi from other localities must complete health declarations within 24 hours after arriving in the capital, with this starting from May 25.

"Citizens can rest assured because the city is well under control of the situation. Stronger measures will only be considered when the situation gets more complicated and all must strictly follow the direction of the Government," Dung emphasized.

Hanoi has so far registered 328 cases in the new COVID-19 wave, with most of them detected in two hospitals under lockdown – the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases and the K Hospital, the central facility of cancer treatment.

On the same day, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son and a delegation from the Ministry of Health inspected the prevention and control of COVID-19 in Bac Ninh, the second largest coronavirus epicenter in Vietnam.

Son suggested that hospitals in Bac Ninh should pay greater attention to increasing testing capacity, developing anti-infection procedures in a bid to limit hospital infection.

Bac Ninh has outlined a scenario involving 2,000 COVID-19 patients and mobilized more human resources from other localities to support it in the fight against COVID-19.