HCMC – The Ministry of Health reported 15,954 fresh Covid-19 cases this evening, January 26, with 69 of them being imported and 15,885 others being locally-infected, up 186 cases versus yesterday.

The capital city of Hanoi reported the highest number, at 2,884 cases. Danang ranked second with 991, followed by Bac Ninh with 865 cases, Haiphong with 702 cases, Thanh Hoa 587 and Quang Nam 572 cases. The remaining localities had fewer than 500 cases each. Vietnam as of now has reported 166 cases of the Omicron variant, with most of them found in HCMC, Quang Nam, Hanoi, and Khanh Hoa. In the day, the country recorded 155 new Covid deaths and 20,540 recoveries, sending its death toll and total recoveries during the pandemic to over 37,100 and over 1.9 million, respectively. In related news, medical workers across 22 districts and Thu Duc City in HCMC will offer booster shots over the Lunar New Year holiday, or Tet. Both permanent and temporary residents can visit local hospitals and medical centers in the city to get vaccinated without having to make advance registrations. According to the HCMC Center for Disease Control, the city offers the vaccination services over Tet to help local residents build better protection against the coronavirus, especially its new variant Omicron, as the efficacy of the vaccine could decline over time. The southern city is making efforts to complete giving booster shots to its residents by the end of February, as required by the prime minister. People with prior infection with Covid are advised to get enough Covid vaccine doses, as they could be re-infected with the Omicron variant, or face the risk of developing serious illness from Covid, or transmit the disease to others. Most of the Covid deaths in the city were people in vulnerable group such as the elderly, those with underlying medical problems, unvaccinated people, or partially vaccinated people. In another development, the Danang Hospital in the central city of the same name has established a clinic to treat people having long Covid. This is the first public hospital in the central region to offer the service.