Medical workers of a pop-up healthcare station walk to some houses in an alley to administer Covid vaccine doses to old people - PHOTO: VNA

Among the domestic cases, Hanoi took the lead with 2,924 infections, up 118 cases day-on-day, followed by Danang with 876 and Bac Ninh with 803.

Haiphong, Phu Tho, Nam Dinh and Thanh Hoa detected 505-650 cases each, while other localities had fewer than 500 infections each.

Bac Ninh Province today added 12,840 earlier-detected infections to the national Covid case management system, while Ben Tre Province reported 3,988 new infections to the system.

The latest domestic cases have raised the country’s caseload to over 2.25 million. More than two million Covid patients have recovered from the disease.

The ministry also reported 121 Covid fatalities, including 22 in Hanoi and 12 in Dong Thap. Other cities and provinces reported fewer than 10 deaths. The Covid death toll now stands at 37,668.

Ninh Binh Province has reported the first Omicron-hit case, who returned to the country from Tanzania on January 7 and was quarantined at the Hadana-Hoi An hotel in Quang Nam Province, according to the provincial Center for Disease Control.

After completing the three-day quarantine, the 40-year-old returned to Ninh Binh Province on January 10 and tested positive for Covid on January 16, the local media reported.

Up to date, Vietnam has reported more than 180 Omicron cases.

In related news, many cities and provinces, including Hanoi, HCMC, Danang, Binh Phuoc, Binh Thuan, Haiphong and Vinh Long, are set to allow students to get back to school after several months of online learning due to the pandemic.

In Hanoi City, students from grades 7 to 12 in areas at low and moderate risk of Covid transmission will return to in-person classes from February 8, while sixth graders and primary-school students will continue online classes. Kindergarteners still stay at home.

After the Lunar New Year holiday, schools in HCMC will start to welcome back kindergarteners and students from grades 1 to 6 from February 14. The return to school will be on a voluntary basis.

Elsewhere, Danang City, Binh Phuoc, Binh Thuan, Kien Giang, Haiphong and Quang Ngai will allow students from grades 7 to 12 to get back to schools from February 7.

In Vinh Long Province, 9th and 12th graders will return to schools from February 7, while students in grades 5, 6, 10 and 11 will get back to in-person classes from February 14. The province will allow second, seventh and eighth graders to be back to school from February 21.

Source: SGT

COVID deaths fall to single digit in HCM City

Ho Chi Minh City, the epicenter of the recent COVID-19 outbreak in Vietnam, recorded 15 COVID-19 related deaths, including six severely ill cases earlier transferred from neighbouring localities for treatment.