The last 24 hours brought 2,367 new cases, taking Vietnam's tally of infections to nearly 32,200, according to the daily report of the Ministry of Health on July 12.
The figure, including 30,259 locally transmitted infections, and the remaining was imported. The number of active cases has been 22,868 while the death toll is 123.
| Testing in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: HCDC |
Covid-19 has swept 58 out of 63 cities and provinces nationwide, with top pandemic-hit localities being Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) with 14,776 cases, Bac Giang 5,721, Bac Ninh 1,667, Binh Duong 1,628, Dong Thap 618, Hanoi 533, Tien Giang 470, Phu Yen 466, and Danang 270.
To date, the pandemic has placed under lockdown a number of areas from the north to the south, of them, HCMC is in the citywide isolation.
In mid-May when the fourth pandemic wave broke out for two weeks, the Ministry of Health built a scenario of having 30.000 infections. To which, it prepared facilities and manpower for the worst-case scheme.
But the chains of infections in HCMC have worsened the situation just in few weeks, accounting for half of the country’s total.
Daily infections
Today [July 12], Vietnam saw the biggest one-day jump in coronavirus infections ever with 2,367. But it’s quite good as up to 88.55% of the confirmed cases were detected in the quarantine zones.
Given surging infections, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam agreed with the Ministry of Health’s proposal to quarantine first-generation contacts of the index case (F1) at home.
In late June, this quarantine model was piloted in some parts of HCMC from July 5 to ease pressure on the centralized quarantine facilities and to avoid cross infections. So far, the most populous city has reported more than 15,000 people under centralized quarantine and nearly 39,000 under home or hotel quarantine.
F1 who are subject to the home quarantine include those who have been in infrequent contact with Covid-19 cases; people work in the same room but more than two meters away and do not have direct contact; those in close contact are the elderly over 60 years old, children, pregnant women, people with disabilities who need care and support.
Meanwhile, some of HCMC’s neighboring cities and provinces like Binh Duong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Dong Nai, Long An, and Tien Giang have imposed partial lockdown to curb the widespread transmission. Of them, Long An suspended operations of all businesses in the locality.
Hanoi is also in the spotlight as it decided to close again restaurants, coffee bars, and barbershops from July 13 after a week of the coronavirus resurgence. Speaking about the move, Secretary of the Hanoi Party’s Committee Dinh Tien Dung said it’s of urgency to contain the virus spread.
According to him, the extent and scale of the closure might increase to a higher level if the pandemic continues to worsen. On the contrary, the local government will relax the social distancing if the situation is under control. “In all situations, measures are aimed at ensuring the most effective anti-pandemic work and minimizing damage caused to people,” Dung noted.
On July 12, the Vietnamese Government agreed to allow private conglomerate T&T Group to import 40 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine.
T&T will use its own money to buy the doses, which will be administered free of charge by the Government.
In another move, Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long today called on health workers to be willing to join the fight against Covid-19 in affected areas.
“On behalf of the leadership of the Ministry of Health, I call on each individual and organization in the health sector to continue to work together and get ready to support the pandemic-stricken localities,” the minister said in a statement.
| Vietnam's Covid-19 infections. Source: MoH. Chart: Minh Vu |
