Vietnam’s daily COVID-19 infections hit another new high

HANOI, July 23– Vietnam reported another record high of 7,307 new COVID-19 infections on Friday, surging from the previous record of 6,194 cases registered on Thursday, according to the Ministry of Health. Among the community cases, 4,913 were reported in the southern epicenter Ho Chi Minh City, 608 in the nearby southern Binh Duong province, and 602 in the…

HANOI, July 23 (Xinhua) — Vietnam reported another record high of 7,307 new COVID-19 infections on Friday, surging from the previous record of 6,194 cases registered on Thursday, according to the Ministry of Health.

The new infections included 7,295 locally transmitted and 12 imported, bringing the total tally to 81,678 with 370 deaths, the ministry said.

Among the community cases, 4,913 were reported in the southern epicenter Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), 608 in the nearby southern Binh Duong province, and 602 in the southern Long An province.

Amid complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities of HCMC announced on Friday that the city would extend the social distancing measures under the government’s Directive 16 until Aug. 1, with even stricter measures in certain high-risk areas.

According to Directive 16, residents must stay at home and only go out for basic necessities such as buying food or medicines. It has been applied in HCMC since July 9.

Nationwide, as many as 15,536 COVID-19 patients have so far recovered, up 2,115 from Thursday.

As of Friday, Vietnam has registered a total of 79,537 domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases, including 77,967 detected since the start of the latest outbreak in late April, the ministry said. Enditem