HANOI, July 5 (dpa): Vietnam on Monday night recorded 1, 102 new cases of coronavirus, a record daily tally for the country and the first time cases have reached over a thousand since the start of the pandemic.
That number surpassed the previous daily record of 922 registered two days ago, according to the country's Ministry of Health.
The new infections included 1, 089 locally transmitted and 13 imported, bringing the total tally to 21, 035, the ministry said.
Ho Chi Minh City, which is under strict virus prevention and social distancing protocols, has emerged as the country’s virus epicentre. The vast majority of new cases have been recorded in the southern metropolis, Health Ministry data showed.
Vietnam has been praised internationally for its response to the pandemic, but after a month without any community transmission of the virus, local cases emerged again on April 27 and over 10, 000 have been reported since.
The country has vaccinated less than 4 million of its total population of 98 million people.
Vietnam said it expects to receive 120 million vaccine doses in 2021, nearly 39 million of which will be provided through the World Health Organization's COVAX initiative.
The Health Ministry also said on Monday that 90, 000 Pfizer Covid-19 doses, the first sent to the country, would reach Vietnam on Wednesday.
Among the community cases, 641 were reported in the southern Ho Chi Minh City, 165 in the southern Dong Thap province, and 131 in the southern Binh Duong province.
Most of them are contacts of previously confirmed cases or linked to the clusters of infections in the localities.
Nationwide, as many as 8, 022 Covid-19 patients have so far recovered, up 203 from Sunday, the ministry said.
Four more Covid-19 patients with severe underlying conditions died on Monday, raising the total number of coronavirus-related deaths in the country to 90.
As of Monday, Vietnam has registered a total of 19, 164 domestically transmitted Covid-19 cases, including 17, 594 detected since the start of the latest outbreak in late April, according to the health ministry. - dpa
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