COVID-19: Daily infections fall to nearly 15,000, Hanoi again tops localities

The Ministry of Health has confirmed 14,872 new coronavirus cases, including 14,867 locally acquired infections, in 59 cities and provinces across the country during the past 24 hours.

The past 24 hours saw Vietnam’s daily count fall by 315 cases compared to the previous day, the MoH said in its coronavirus update on December 27.

Notably, as many as 10,418 cases (or two thirds of the total) were detected in the community, posing a high risk of virus spreading in localities.

The COVID-19 outbreak remains complicated nationwide, with most of the cases documented in the south. Localities that recorded hundreds of new cases each included Tay Ninh, Vinh Long, Can Tho, Dong Thap, Bac Lieu, Tra Vinh, Binh Dinh and Ca Mau. The number of infections continued to fall in Ho Chi Minh City, at just 560.

But Hanoi capital in the north topped localities in infection numbers, registering 1,948 cases. The number of new infections suddenly skyrocketed in the northern port city of Hai Phong, hitting 931 almost doubling the previous day’s figure.

The same day, the official data from the MoH also show that 11,374 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospital, and 204 patients died of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and underlying illnesses.

As of 06pm on December 27 Vietnam has detected 1,666,545 COVID-19 cases since the start of the first outbreak in January 2020, ranking 31st out of 223 countries and territories worldwide.

Of the infected patients, 1,259,614 have recovered from the disease, and 31,418 patients have died of the disease.

More than 146 million vaccine doses have been administered nationwide, with 66.4 million people getting their second shot and nearly 2.8 million people receiving their booster jab.