Coronavirus cases continue rising in Vietnam’s hotbed
Monday, February 22, 2021, 20:52 GMT+7
Vietnam’s Ministry of Health reported nine local COVID-19 infections on Monday, taking the national patient count near 2,400 cases.
Six of the cases were recorded in Hai Duong Province, the country’s epicenter now, the health ministry said, adding they were direct contacts of infected patients and had been put in quarantine beforehand.
The other three were registered in Hai Phong, with their epidemiological record being tracked back.
Vietnam had spent almost two months detecting no domestic infection before it found the first local case on January 27 and confirmed it one day later, the health ministry said.
A total of 800 local cases have been detected in 13 provinces and cities since then, making it the most serious wave to have struck Vietnam after the first-ever COVID-19 patient was recorded in the country on January 23, 2020.
More than 80 percent of these patients are asymptomatic while 14.7 percent exhibit mild symptoms, according to the health ministry’s analysis.
In this latest wave, 617 cases were logged in Hai Duong Province, 60 in Quang Ninh Province, 27 in Gia Lai Province, 35 in Hanoi, five in Bac Ninh Province, two in Bac Giang Province, 36 in Ho Chi Minh City, two in Hoa Binh Province, one in Ha Giang Province, three in Dien Bien Province, six in Binh Duong Province, four in Hai Phong, and two in Hung Yen Province.
January 28 saw the largest number of community-based cases recorded, 84, whereas Saturday logged the lowest, six.
Daily new infections have been in decline over the past week thanks to social distancing, contact tracing, and targeted testing and lockdowns, the health ministry said, adding that community spread in the epicenter of Hai Duong has clearly slowed down.
Vietnam has recorded 2,392 coronavirus cases, including 1,493 local infections, as of Monday night, with 1,717 recoveries and 35 virus-related deaths, according to the Ministry of Health’s data.
The dead had suffered from comorbid health problems, including 31 in Da Nang, three in Quang Nam Province, and one in Quang Tri Province.
The country is currently quarantining almost 121,000 people who had contact with infected patients or made an entry from pathogen-hit regions.
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