Vietnam reports additional 16,715 COVID-19 cases across 62 localities

Of the total, Hanoi recorded the highest number of new infections with 2,884, followed by Da Nang with 983 and Hai Phong with 722.

The past 24 hours has seen 152 deaths relating to COVID-19, thereby pushing the death toll nationwide to 36,266, or 1.7% of all infections since the pandemic initially broke out last year.

Following the fourth wave of infections which hit the country in late April of last year, more than 1 million cases have since been detected, whilst over 1.79 million people have now recovered.

As of January 19 , the country had injected over 172 million vaccines  doses, with more than 73 people now fully inoculated.

The same day saw the Ministry of Health announce the discharge of a further 5,736 COVID-19 patients, thereby taking the total number of recoveries up to 1,794,924.

A total of 108 Omicron cases have now been recorded in Vietnam, including one each in Hanoi, Hai Duong, Long An, Hai Phong, two each in Khanh Hoa, Thanh Hoa, Quang Ninh, 27 in Quang Nam, and 68 in Ho Chi Minh City.

The Ministry of Health has now warned of the high risk of Omicron spreading in the country, stressing that once it happens, it could overload the healthcare system since it is more contagious than the Delta variant.

According to Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long, the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be completely contained this year as new variants may appear, thereby making the pandemic situation more complicated and unpredictable.

The health sector’s top priority this year is therefore to press ahead with pandemic prevention and control efforts, with a particular focus on intensifying the vaccination campaign nationwide, even during the Lunar New Year festival, known locally as Tet, he added.