Four latest Omicron cases just discovered in Binh Duong Province and Ho Chi Minh City, in southern Vietnam, have brought the total number of Omicron infections in the Southeast Asian country to 139, as recorded since the coronavirus strain for it was first reported in Hanoi last December, health authorities said.
The health ministry of Binh Duong province confirmed the first Omicron case on Sunday evening, a Vietnamese woman who returned from Canada on January 9.
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On Monday morning, Ho Chi Minh City’s health department announced three more patients linked to the previous three Omicron community infections, VnExpress quoted Dr. Nguyen Van Vinh Chau, deputy director of the department.
The Ministry of Health has not yet commented on the number of domestic cases included in the 139 Omicron infections recorded in 11 localities, but in Ho Chi Minh City alone, six Omicron patients are in the community so far. discovers.
The city tops the list of Omicron infections with 71 patients, followed by Quang Nam with 27 cases, Hanoi with 14 cases, Khanh Hoa with 11 cases, Da Nang with eight cases, Thanh Hoa and Quang Ninh with two cases each, and Hai Duong, Hai Phong, Long An and Binh Duong with one suitcase each.
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Current COVID-19 vaccines can help prevent critical illness and deaths caused by all strains of coronavirus, including Omicron, so full vaccination is the best way to protect yourself overall, the health ministry said.
To date, hospitalizations and deaths caused by Omicron are relatively low in Vietnam thanks to the high coverage of the COVID-19 vaccine, the department said.
The first Omicron infection in the Southeast Asian country was announced on December 21 last year in a Vietnamese man who returned to Hanoi from the UK two days earlier.
The mutant was designated a variant of concern by the World Health Organization (WHO) on November 26, 2021, two days after it was first reported by South Africa to the WHO.
The strain, which appears to be more contagious but less virulent than previous mutants according to health experts, has now been found in more than 130 countries and territories and has become dominant in many places, according to international media.
“Omicron’s infection rate is probably seven times higher in the unvaccinated group and three times higher in the fully vaccinated population, so it could lead to a very rapid increase in infection cases, overloading the health system and more deaths,” the Vietnamese said. minister. of Health warned Nguyen Thanh Long.
Therefore, it is imperative to continue to strengthen epidemic prevention and control efforts, Long said.
The Ministry of Health said it has updated WHO’s information on the Omicron strain to address any new epidemic developments.
Vietnam has documented 2,141,422 cases of COVID-19, with 1,804,849 recoveries and 36,719 deaths, the health ministry’s data shows.
Health professionals have administered 78.86 million first vaccine doses, 73.88 million second injections and 23.15 million third injections to people across the country since the vaccination was rolled out in March 2020, the health ministry reported Sunday.
Currently, 100 percent of the Southeast Asian nation’s adult population has received their first COVID-19 vaccine doses, while 48 of the country’s 63 cities and counties have achieved a second-shot rate of over 90 percent.
The ministry has urged all places to complete coverage of second vaccine doses for children ages 12 to 17 within this month as they prepare to immunize children ages five to 12.
By Vinh Tho @ Tuoi Tre newspaper.
