The Vietnamese Ministry of Health documented nine domestic COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, with the national patient count surpassing 2,400 cases.

Eight of the new cases were detected in Hai Duong Province, the country’s current hotbed, the health ministry said, adding they were direct contacts of infected patients and had been put in quarantine earlier.

The other patient was logged in Quang Ninh Province, also a quarantined direct contact.  

Vietnam had spent almost two months detecting no local contagion before it found the first domestic case on January 27 and confirmed it one day later, according to the health ministry’s data.

A total of 809 community-based cases have been confirmed 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 announced in the country on January 23, 2020.

Over 80 percent of these patients are symptomless while almost 15 percent exhibit mild symptoms, according to the health ministry’s analysis.

In this latest wave, 625 cases were logged in Hai Duong Province, 61 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 2,401 coronavirus cases, including 1,502 local infections, as of Tuesday night, with 1,717 recoveries and 35 virus-related fatalities, according to the Ministry of Health’s data.

The dead had suffered from comorbid medical problems, including 31 in Da Nang, three in Quang Nam Province, and one in Quang Tri Province.

The Southeast Asian country is presently quarantining over 107,000 people who had contact with infected patients or made an entry from pathogen-hit regions.

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