Vietnam sees record of 23,953 COVID infections on February 9

HANOI: Vietnam saw the highest number of daily COVID-19 infections since the beginning of the pandemic on Wednesday, with a total of 23,953 new cases logged in the past 24 hours.

This brings the total caseload in Vietnam to 2,404,651 infections, according to Vietnam news agency (VNA).

Hanoi with 2,949 new transmissions continued to be the worst-affected area in the country, followed by the central province of Nghe An with 1,900, and the northern city of Hai Phong (1,295), and northern provinces of Bac Ninh (1,246) and Hai Duong (1,120).

Vietnam's seven-day average of new infections is currently at 15,584 cases, up significantly compared to a week ago (13,099 on Feb 2), it reported.

The country has 2,771 serious COVID-19 cases, with 335 requiring mechanical ventilation and 18 on life support.

New deaths continued to stay below 100, with 93 deaths recorded nationwide, bringing the total fatalities to 38,614, accounting for 1.6 percent of the total infections.

The seven-day average of daily COVID-19 deaths in Vietnam is at 94.

According to VNA, to date, 183.73 million COVID-19 vaccine shots have been administered in the country, including 166.87 million in the adult population.

52 out of 63 localities in the country have reported full vaccine coverage in over 90 percent of the adult population, and 17.4 million people have received the booster shots.

16.3 million doses of vaccines have been given to children aged 12 to 17 years, including 7.87 million second doses.

Despite the record-high number of infections, 48 localities in the country, including the two biggest cities Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, are considered 'green' (low risk) in the health ministry's COVID-19 outbreak situation assessment, with 15 categorised as 'yellow' (medium risks), and no 'orange' or 'red' (high to very high risk) zones.

-- BERNAMA