Ho Chi Minh City’s domestic coronavirus caseload has topped 12,000 patients in this ongoing infection wave after the city recorded an additional 443 cases on Sunday morning.

The sources of 158 of the latest cases were not immediately known while the rest were detected in concentrated quarantine centers or locked-down areas, according to the Ministry of Health.

The health ministry has documented 12,058 locally-transmitted virus cases in Ho Chi Minh City since the fourth and worst infection round emerged in Vietnam in late April.

City authorities escalated social distancing rules on Friday after restrictions had been instigated since May 31.

All residents are required to follow the prime minister’s Directive 16 for 15 days to curb the raging Delta coronavirus variant.

The directive forbids public gatherings of over two, bans non-essential businesses and services, and restricts travels to and from infection clusters.

Public transport, including buses, taxis, and ride-hailing vehicles, is suspended while people are told to keep a two-meter distance in social interaction.

Citizens are required to stay home unless they go out for food, medicine, or other emergencies. Many have been fined for going outdoors without a proper reason.

City officials have already closed down many major wet markets as coronavirus infections had been found there.

The virus will be kept at bay if everyone strictly adheres to all the restrictions, Ho Chi Minh City chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong said on Wednesday.

After more than a year of success in containing the virus, Vietnam has been grappling with its resurgence since April 27.

The Ministry of Health has logged 24,983 local infections in 58 out of 63 provinces and cities, including 606 announced on Sunday morning, ever since.

Ho Chi Minh City is leading the table, followed by Bac Giang Province with 5,701 patients, Bac Ninh Province with 1,656, Binh Duong Province with 1,305, and Dong Thap Province with 528.

By comparison, Vietnam confirmed 106 community cases in the first wave from January 23 to April 16, 2020, 554 in the second from July 25 to December 1, 2020, and 910 in the third from January 28 to March 25, 2021. 

The country has confirmed 28,470 cumulative infections since the pathogen first hit it early last year, according to the health ministry’s data.

Recoveries have mounted to 9,204, including 220 announced on Saturday, whereas the death toll has reached 112.

The country has administered 4,040,783 vaccine doses to medical workers, teachers, factory workers, and other frontline staff since it rolled out inoculation on March 8.

A total of 271,409 people have been fully vaccinated.

The government set a target of immunizing two-thirds of a population of nearly 98 million people against COVID-19 by the first quarter of next year.

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