COVID-19: Daily caseload falls on second consecutive day to nearly 11,500

Of the new infections, 6,650 cases were detected in the community through test screening or random testing, nine tested positive upon returning to Vietnam from overseas, and the rest were documented in quarantine or lockdown areas.

Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong, the two largest coronavirus hotspots, registered 6,158 and 3,188 new cases respectively, accounting for more than four fifths of the total.

They were followed by Dong Nai with 974 new cases, Long An 285, Kien Giang 117, Tay Ninh 93 and Tien Giang 80, all in the south.

Elsewhere, Quang Binh topped central localities in infection number, recording 61, while Khanh Hoa and Quang Ngai reported 48 and 30 more cases respectively.

In the northern region, only two localities confirmed new infections, with Hanoi capital detecting 20 and its neighbor Hung Yen just 1.

September 12 is the second consecutive day that has seen infection numbers fall in Vietnam. The MoH earlier announced 11,932 new cases on September 11 and 13,321 new cases on September 10.

As of 06.00pm on September 12, Vietnam has recorded 613,375 coronavirus cases since the start of the outbreak in January 2020, and 608,997 locally acquired infections following the resurgence of the virus four and a half months ago.

Of the total, 371,804 patients have been discharged from hospital after making a full recovery from the disease, including 11,116 recoveries announced on September 11.  

The MoH has also confirmed 261 COVID-19 deaths during the past 24 hours, with HCM City and Binh Duong reporting 200 and 39 fatalities respectively.

The September 12 figure has raised the total number of COVID-19 fatalities in Vietnam to 15,279, making up 2.5% of the total number of infections and 0.4% higher than the average death rate globally. 

More than 18.1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered nationwide, with over 5 million people getting their second shot.