Another COVID death reported, severe cases on the rise

The patient had died in the northern province of Nam Dinh, the ministry said in its coronavirus update.

Last week, Vietnam also logged a COVID death in Hanoi, the first case in four months.  

The MoH report also shows 2,501 fresh coronavirus infections were documented in localities across the country during the past 24 hours, an increase of more than 600 cases compared to the previous day.

Currently, 145 COVID patients require mechanical ventilation at health facilities, an increase of 44 cases from the previous day.

Amid a rise in the number of hospital admissions and severe cases, Dr. Tran Dac Phu, a senior health professional, recommended that people take preventive measures such as wearing mask, washing hands with sanitizer, and keeping a distance in public places, especially during the coming five-day break, to avoid further infections.

In another development, the Hanoi Center for Disease Control said on April 25 that it had taken 22 samples of COVID patients for genome sequencing and found these patients had contracted sub-variants XBB.1.5, XBB.1.11.1, XBB.1.9.1, XBL and XBB .2.3 of the Omicron strain.

Last week, Ho Chi Minh City, the most populous locality in Vietnam, also announced the results of genome sequencing of 13 epidemiological surveillance samples, with 11 new sub-variants detected.

These sub-variants have been discovered in many countries around the world and are classified by the World Health Organisation as variants of interest (VOI) or variants under monitoring (VUM).

Currently, there has been no evidence showing there is a direct correlation between variants of concern or variants under monitoring and with the worsening situation of COVID-19 globally.