COVID-19: HCM City records most of new cases on June 23 afternoon

All new patients in HCM City were locally acquired cases and most of them were those in close contact with COVID-19 patients, the MoH said in its 06.00pm COVID-19 update on June 23.

Elsewhere, six local cases were documented in Da Nang, five in Nghe An, four in Bac Binh, three in Long An, two in Kien Giang, and one in Bac Giang.

Positive signs are seen in Bac Giang and Bac Ninh provinces, the two largest COVID-19 hotspots in northern Vietnam, as the number of positive cases have fallen constantly during the past few days.

Meanwhile, Binh Duong province, an industrial hub and a gateway to HCM City, has emerged as a coronavirus hotspot in Vietnam.

The province has recorded nearly 200 cases in the local community in less than a month, with most of them linked to outbreaks in HCM City. Data from the MoH show the southern locality logged 33 cases on June 22 and 23 new cases on June 23 morning.

During an online meeting with local authorities, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam asked Binh Duong to quickly carry out an extensive testing campaign as it is running a high risk of virus infection in the locality.

The same day, the MoH announced three imported cases, returning to Vietnam via land border gates in Can Tho and Tay Ninh.

Vietnam has recorded 220 new cases during the past 24 hours, raising its tally of infections to 13,947.  

Also on June 23, 138 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospital, bringing the total number of recoveries in Vietnam to 5,684.

So far, 69 patients have died of COVID-19 and other underlying illnesses, including 34 cases during the latest outbreak.