The number of new COVID-19 infections in Ho Chi Minh City bounced back as the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday ended last week and is expected to continue rising in the coming days, the local health sector warned.

Local residents were able to enjoy a wholesome Tet holiday despite the pandemic, Nguyen Thi Huynh Mai, head of the municipal Department of Health’s office, said at a meeting on COVID-19 prevention and control on Thursday.

This was thanks to directions of the city’s administration, careful preparation of departments and agencies, and citizens’ compliance with regulations on pandemic prevention and control, Mai continued.

The 2022 Lunar New Year fell on February 1, and the majority of employees in the country were given a nine-day break from January 29 to February 6.

Prior to the Tet break, Ho Chi Minh City recorded a three-digit jump in new COVID-19 cases every day, the health official elaborated.

The daily count decreased to a two-digit number between February 4 and 7, and dropped to a new low of only 24 on February 5.

Nonetheless, it began to rebound on February 8 and reached 242 cases on February 9.

The city’s health sector believed that COVID-19 infections would continue to surge in the coming days, but the number of seriously ill patients and deaths will decline thanks to gradual improvements to the treatment capacity.

During the first phase of the spring COVID-19 vaccination campaign from December 29 to February 6, more than 13,000 people in the city were provided with the vaccine.

Health authorities will carry out the second phase until the end of this month and strive to provide the third dose to 80 percent of the city’s population.

The city will also focus on boosting protection for people at high risk.

The health sector will work with the education sector to make necessary preparations for the vaccination of children aged five to 11.

Mai added that the metropolis has recorded 92 Omicron infections and zero deaths related to the variant.

Ho Chi Minh City has documented more than 515,100 local COVID-19 cases since the fourth virus wave hit the county last April.

Health workers in the city of nine million have administered about 8.1 million first vaccine doses, nearly 7.3 million second shots, and nearly 4.6 million third jabs.

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