HCMC – The Ministry of Health this evening, April 5, announced 54,995 fresh cases of Covid, up 6,280 cases against the previous day, in 61 provinces and cities across Vietnam.

Hanoi reported the highest number of new cases, at 5,199, followed by Nghe An with 2,925 cases. Four northern localities, Phu Tho, Bac Giang, Yen Bai, and Ha Giang, recorded over 2,000 cases each. Besides, 13 other localities including Bac Kan, Quang Ninh, HCMC each saw over 1,000 cases. Since the pandemic broke out, Vietnam has reported more than 9.9 million cases in total. Of them, over 8.1 million Covid patients have been declared free of the disease while 42,681 others have died, including the latest 303,455 recoveries and 39 deaths confirmed today. In related news, over 95% of children aged 5-12 in the capital city of Hanoi are expected to be vaccinated against Covid in the second quarter of this year, according to the municipal government’s plan issued yesterday. Data from the Hanoi Department of Health revealed that around one million children in this age group need to be inoculated in this campaign. The HCMC government yesterday also issued a plan on giving Covid vaccine to children aged 5-12, with over 898,500 children being subject to the vaccination drive. The city expected to complete this vaccination program before September this year.