COVID-19: Daily count skyrockets to nearly 22,000 in Vietnam

Vietnam has confirmed 21,909 new coronavirus infections in all 63 cities and provinces across the country over the past 24 hours, a rise of more than 5,000 cases compared to the previous day, the Ministry of Health (MoH) said in its coronavirus update on February 8.


Official data from the MoH also show that an additional nearly 4,400 patients recovered from the disease, and 97 patients died of the virus.

Of the newly detected number, as many as 14,982 cases were diagnosed in the community, eight tested positive upon returning from overseas, and the remainder were documented in the lockdown or quarantine areas.

Northern localities led the country in infection numbers, with Hanoi capital registering the most at 2,903, followed by Nghe An (1,717), Hai Duong (1,245), Hoa Binh (944), Bac Ninh (897), Vinh Phuc (891), Nam Dinh (886), Hai Phong (830), Phu Tho (769) and Thai Nguyen (649).

Experts said an increase in locally acquired infections is inevitable, particularly as people are returning to major cities to work from a nine-day lunar New Year holiday (Tet) that ended on February 6.

They warned the number is likely to increase further when localities are holding spring festivals and Vietnam is going to fully reopening regular international commercial flights in the near future.

However, they said such an increase will be kept in check if people strictly adhere to prevention and control measures, especially wearing masks,

As of 06pm on February 8, Vietnam has detected 2,380,695 COVID-19 cases since the start of the outbreak, ranking 34th out of 225 countries and territories worldwide.

Of the infected patients, 2,126,777 have been discharged from hospital after making a full recovery from the disease, and 38,521 patients have died of the virus.

The number of Omicron infections remains unchanged at 192 in 16 localities, including 92 cases confirmed in Ho Chi Minh City, 27 in Quang Nam, 20 in Quang Ninh, 14 in Hanoi, and 11 in Khanh Hoa.

More than 183 million vaccine doses have been administered nationwide, with over 74 million people getting their second shot and nearly 30 million people receiving their additional shot/booster jab.