Vietnam’s Ministry of Health confirmed that a total of 9,716 new COVID-19 cases were recorded on Saturday, including six imported cases. This is the highest single-day record of new infections in the country since the pandemic began.
Ho Chi Minh City, the fourth outbreak epicenter, still has the largest number of new community infections.
The local cases were found in: Hồ Chí Minh City (4,231), Bình Dương (2,029), Đồng Nai (1,023), Long An (653), Tiền Giang (461), Khánh Hòa (164), Cần Thơ (164), Đồng Tháp (118), Tây Ninh (97), Đà Nẵng (87), Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu (77), Gia Lai (70), Vĩnh Long (57), Thừa Thiên Huế (57), Bến Tre (40), Hà Nội (40), Phú Yên (40), Bình Thuận (36), Quảng Ngãi (35), An Giang (33), Kiên Giang (32), Đắk Lắk (26), Bình Định (23), Ninh Thuận (22), Sơn La (17), Trà Vinh (16), Lâm Đồng (14), Nghệ An (12), Nam Định (8 ), Bình Phước (5), Quảng Trị (4), Bạc Liêu (3), Thanh Hóa (3), Hải Dương (3), Lạng Sơn (2), Thái Bình (2), Lào Cai (2), Cà Mau (2), Bắc Ninh (1), and Quảng Bình (1). Among these, 3,510 are detected in the community.
Vietnam’s fourth COVID-19 outbreak tally has now reached 261,412. The ministry also announced 349 new fatalities in 16 cities and provinces, taking the death toll to 5,437.
On Saturday, 4,247 patients were discharged from hospitals, raising the total recoveries to 96,985, according to the MoH.
Central region imposes more restrictions
The central region of Danang, which has been under Directive 16 since July 31, has decided to further suspend all activities in the entire city from August 16 to August 23 as cases surge. All residents must stay inside their homes at all times.
On Saturday, people in the city were rushing to markets, grocery stores and pharmacies to stock up on food and medicines before tougher restrictions start on Monday. Police authorities were guarding public places since early morning to monitor entries and to ensure everyone was following social distancing protocols.
The city government, however, said that manufacturing enterprises at industrial parks are allowed to continue operations with only a maximum of 30% of their total workforce.
“Three-on-spot” operations will be imposed in all public agencies and companies authorized to open, which means production, meals and rest after work are done at the same place.
The city’s Department of Health is also now preparing to conduct mass community testing to detect infections and to promptly identify COVID-19 cases and isolate cases.
As of August 13, Danang has already recorded 2,370 cases - 1,723 of which have been documented since April 27. On Friday alone, the city recorded 58 new cases, 16 with unknown sources of transmission.
Neighboring Hoi An in Quang Nam province has imposed social distancing measures since July, with some areas under Directive 16. Residents are also not allowed to leave their homes except to buy food or medicines.
Nha Trang, which lies between the southern and central regions, began a seven-day lockdown from Saturday as the number of infections in the beachtown crossed 2,000.
Residents are not allowed to go out, and government offices have asked employees to work from home. Businesses and factories are also mandated to allow staff to stay at work for the next seven days.