Vietnam saw the highest-ever daily Covid-19 infections on Thursday [July 22] with 6,164 of community transmission, lifting the tally to 74,371, including 370 deaths.

Testing in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: HCDC

Two thirds of the daily cases were detected in Ho Chi Minh City, followed by the southern provinces of Binh Duong, Long An, Dong Nai, and Dong Thap with 679, 432, 210, and 117, respectively.

To date, 61 out of 63 cities and provinces were stricken by the pandemic. Among them, Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) takes the lead for the number of confirmed cases, accounting for 61% of the country’s caseload. The northern province of Bac Giang ranked second with 5,733, Binh Duong 5,368, the northern province of Bac Ninh 1,709, Dong Thap 1,665, Dong Nai 1,525, and Long An 1,362.

The southern region is implementing measures under Directive 16 that requires movement control order except for emergencies and purchase of essential goods. The restrictions will last for two weeks starting on July 19.

Vaccination in Ho Chi Minh City on July 22. Photo: Dinh Van

Ho Chi Minh City

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (HCDC), the pandemic in the city has not reached the peak yet and it could be complicated in the next few days. However, up to 95% of the new cases were found in quarantined places but not in the community, it said.

Today, HCMC started the 5th round of vaccination with more than 930,000 doses. So far, nearly one million doses have been administered in the city.

HCMC leaders have considered the stricter restrictions on hopes that the city would bring the pandemic under control. It’s likely that the local government will impose the restrictions for one week or 10 days more after the initial 15-day order that will finish on July 24.

To better treat Covid-19 patients, the city has classified them into four groups namely asymptomatic ones are quarantined in grassroots facilities; cases of mild symptoms treated at district hospitals; symptomatic cases and those with underlying diseases treated at higher-level hospitals; and those of critical condition treated at leading hospitals and clinic facilities with advanced equipment and intensive care units.

With an aim to soon contain the pandemic, the army will disinfect the entire city in a week from July 23. A group of 100 military personnel of the Military Zone 7 will join the disinfection. High-risk areas will be disinfected for seven consecutive days, according to Col. Tu Minh Son.

On July 22, Vietnam started the massive vaccination that will last until April 2020. The Ministry of Health said it has inked contracts to buy 150 million doses.

So far, the country has received more than eight million doses from foreign donors through the COVAX Facility, the WHO-led vaccine sharing scheme.

Today, Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said three million doses of US-donated Moderna vaccine will arrive in Vietnam on July 25.

Regarding a Vietnamese woman tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in Singapore, Hang required Singaporean media to be objective in reporting news. Earlier, the Straits Times reported that an infected Vietnamese woman was believed to be the case causing an infection cluster of dozen others.

However, Kenneth Mak, Director of Medical Services at Singapore’s Ministry of Health, said on July 16 that the Vietnamese woman was firstly found in the cluster it did not mean that she was the index case as she had resided in the country for a period of time before being infected with the virus.

Vietnam's Covid-19 cases. Source: MoH. Chart: Minh Vu