HCMC - The Ministry of Health this evening, August 24 confirmed 10,811 new Covid-19 cases, including 14 imported cases and 10,797 domestic infections in 43 provinces and cities, up 531 cases against yesterday.

Among the locally-infected cases, HCMC recorded the biggest case number at 4,627, up 376 cases against yesterday, taking the city’s Covid-19 count to 184,872 in the current fourth Covid wave, followed by Binh Duong with 3,628, up 445 cases, and Dong Nai with 799. The rest were detected in 40 other localities across the country. The latest domestic infections have raised the country’s caseload in the ongoing fourth coronavirus wave, which began in late April, to 365,152, with 159,501 patients having made a full recovery. The subcommittee of treatment under the national anti-virus steering committee also reported an additional 348 Covid deaths in 14 provinces and cities, with HCMC reporting the highest, at 292 fatalities. The country’s Covid death toll has risen to 9,014 cases. In related news, over 5.5 million people out of over 7.2 million people aged 18 and above in HCMC have been vaccinated against Covid-19. Some 5.3 million of vaccinated people have received one shot, accounting for 73.5% of adults in the city, well above the target of 70% set for late August. The HCMC Department of Health also said today that more than 210,000 people in the city had got two doses of Covid-19 vaccine, the local media reported. On August 23, over 1,670 Covid-19 patients were discharged from hospitals in the city, raising HCMC’s total recoveries to over 91,210, according to the HCMC Center for Disease Control. The city is treating over 36,000 Covid-19 patients, including more than 2,240 children, 2,560 patients put on ventilators and 20 others requiring ECMO support. Speaking at a press briefing this afternoon, the municipal Health Department said that the city is carrying out a mass testing drive and planned to test some two million people in extremely-high-risk and high-risk areas before August 26. Some 6,000 of 170,000 samples that have been taken for quick tests returned positive for Covid-19, he added. Elsewhere, the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang has decided to extend the social distancing order under the prime minister’s Directive 16 for seven more days, starting from August 26 to September 1. To quickly put the Covid-19 pandemic under control, residents are banned from leaving their home during the shelter-in-place period. Besides, the province is mobilizing medical workers to complete the mass Covid-19 testing drive to isolate Covid-19 infections and lock down virus-related areas.