Vietnam reports record high number of Covid-19 cases as virus total goes above 500,000

Hanoi on Friday (Sept 3) continued to evacuate residents in Thanh Xuan District from their homes after the capital's biggest Covid-19 cluster was discovered in the area. - Vietnam News/ANN

HANOI, Sept 3 (Vietnam News/ANN): Vietnam recorded the highest daily increase in coronavirus cases on Friday with 14,922 new infections, taking the total tally to more than half a million.

Of the latest transmissions, just 28 were imported, and the rest discovered either in the community or already in locked down or quarantine zones.

Since the very first case was detected in January last year, there has now been a total of 501,469 people who have caught the virus.

Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City still remains the country’s largest Covid-19 hotspot with 8,499 new cases, followed by neighbouring province of Binh Duong (3,676), Dong Nai (986) and Long An (564).

Compared to the previous day, HCM City saw an increase of 2,536 cases and Dong Nai an additional 183 while the figures in Bình Dương and Long An dropped by 828 and 19, respectively.

Meanwhile, the capital city of Hanoi reported 58 cases.

The Ministry of Health on Friday also said 308 more deaths have been recorded, bringing the country’s total number of fatalities to 12,446

A total of 11,344 patients were given the all-clear, taking the number of recoveries to 270,668.

There are ten cities and provinces that have gone 14 days without new cases, Quang Ninh, Bac Kan, Tuyen Quang, Lai Chau, Hoa Bình, Yen Bai, Ha Giang, Thai Nguyen, Dien Bien, and Vinh Phuc.

As of Friday, more than 20.8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in Vietnam, with 2,959,122 people fully inoculated.

Also on the same day, it was confirmed that Vietnam has registered a total of 497,391 locally transmitted Covid-19 cases since the start of the current wave in late April, the ministry said. - Vietnam News/ANN