Hanoi continued to record a steady decline in daily new Covid-19 infections over the past week [October 18-24], with less than 500 Covid-19 cases, the lowest number of new infections in more than two months, according to the municipal Department of Health.

The Covid-19 pandemic in the city remains under control, with no fatalities reported, it stated.  

Omicron remains the dominant strain in Hanoi, of which the Omicron BA.5 variant accounts for 75% of the total cases. But health officials recommend locals be on high alert for the BQ.1 sub-variant. 

A medical staff of the Hanoi Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital receives a Covid-19 vaccine dose. Photo: Tran Thao/ The Hanoi Times

The European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) warned that BQ.1 has more potential to evade some immune defenses than Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5, the local health sector cited.

The ECDC on October 21 announced that at least five countries have detected the BQ.1 sub-variant, including France, Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands, and Italy. The center predicted that the BQ1 sub-variant and its BQ1.1 sub-lineage will likely go mainstream between mid-November and early December 2022.

To better dealing with the pandemic, more than 22 million third doses have been injected into adults in the city, reaching nearly 99%, while more than 54% of children aged 12 to 17 years were administered the third dose.

Hanoi’s health sector forecast that the Covid-19 pandemic will continue to be contained, and the risk of another resurgence is not high, but people are still recommended to be on alert.  

The health sector still gives priority to further accelerating the progress of vaccination against the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure people’s safety in the coming time. At the same time, the department called on local agencies to strictly implement pandemic prevention and control measures, including regularly assessing risk factors, and proactively planning scenarios in response to all possible situations of the pandemic.

Vietnam’s total number of new Covid-19 cases in the past week was nearly 4,500 or 642 patients per day on average, reflecting a sharp decrease compared to the previous week and marking the lowest weekly number of Covid-19 cases over the past two months.

On October 24, Vietnam logged an additional 546 new infections, totaling nearly 11.5 million since the pandemic broke out, ranking 13th out of 230 countries and territories.

As of October 24, more than 261 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in the country. Around 23 million have been injected into children aged 12 to 17 and some 17 million in kids between 5 to 11.

Vietnam totally opened its borders to international visitors on March 15, 2022. The move enables the country to continue its recovery plans in the new normal with the bustling return of production and tourism.