Close to 14,600 fresh COVID-19 cases detected, with over 8,000 in community

The Health Ministry reported the detection of 14,591 new COVID-19 cases in 59 provinces and cities nationwide on December 6, representing a rise of 246 cases from one day earlier.

Among the new infections, a total of 8,117 cases were detected in the community.

The three localities with the highest number of fresh cases were Ho Chi Minh City with 1,174 infections, Tay Ninh with 859, and Soc Trang with 793 cases.

Hanoi recorded 587 new infections over the past 24 hours, with many of them detected among the local community.

The COVID-19 death toll nationwide also rose to 26,482 following the confirmation of 223 deaths on December 6.

Health authorities also confirmed a total of 1,130 recoveries on the same day, thereby taking the overall number of recovered cases to 1,010,407 since the start of the pandemic.

Over 127.8 million people have now been inoculated at least once against the virus, with more than 54 million people now having received full two doses.

Elsewhere, Vietnamese airlines proposed that the Government swiftly resume international flights and exempt mandatory quarantine for fully vaccinated passengers in a bid to save the aviation industry from a prolonged crisis.

Dang Ngoc Hoa, chairman of Vietnam Airlines, said the national flag carrier has petitioned the Government to reopen international flights in the near future to countries and territories with high vaccination rates and competent pandemic control.

In line with this, if the country is slow-paced in reopening international flights, then the nation would lose its advantage in terms of attracting both foreign tourists and investors, Hoa said.

"Airlines and travel businesses are in deep financial crisis, which can lead to bankruptcy and inability to compete regionally," he added.