COVID-19: Vietnam records close to 30,000 new infections in single day

For the first time since the COVID-19 disease broke out, the daily number of new infections of the coronavirus in Vietnam has surpassed the 29,000 case mark, hitting 29,414 on February 14.

The February 14 caseload for new infections represents an increase of more than 3,000 cases compared to the previous day. Of the total, as many as 20,924 cases were detected in the community, meaning the virus infection risk is very high.

All eyes are on northern localities which have seen the virus spread very quickly over the past few days. On February 14 alone, Hanoi capital topped localities, registering 3,507 new infections, followed by Hai Duong, Hai Phong, Lang Son, Nam Dinh, Thai Nguyen and Phu Tho that reported more than 1,000 new cases each.

The daily count of new infections has skyrocketed after people returned to work from the nine-day lunar New Year holiday that ended on February 6. Experts fear the figure is likely to keep rising over coming days as localities are launching spring festivals that attract large crowds of people and Vietnam is going to reopen all international air routes shortly.

Official data from the Ministry of Health show the past 24 hours saw an additional 6,193 patients recover from the disease and 91 more patients died of the virus and other underlying illnesses.

As of 06pm on February 14, Vietnam has detected 2,540,273 COVID-19 cases since the start of the outbreak, ranking 34th out of 225 countries and territories worldwide.

Of the infected patients, 2,232,947 have been discharged from hospital after making a full recovery from the disease, and 39,037 patients have died of the virus.

The number of Omicron infections has increased to 198 in 16 localities, including 97 cases confirmed in Ho Chi Minh City, 27 in Quang Nam, 20 in Quang Ninh, 14 in Hanoi, and 11 in Khanh Hoa.

Approximately 186 million vaccine doses have been administered nationwide, with nearly 75 million people getting their second shot and more than 32 million people receiving their additional shot/booster jab.