Vietnam confirms 21,696 new local Covid-19 cases

The Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh led with 7,063 cases, including 6,867 cases that have been detected in previous days but yet to be added to the national Covid-19 patient database.

It is followed by Hanoi with 2,499 cases and the southern Tay Ninh Province with 916.

The Ministry of Health also announced 224 Covid-19 fatalities on Tuesday, including 26 in HCMC.

Vietnam’s death toll since the start of the pandemic is 33,245, or 1.8 percent of the total infections.

In the fourth wave which hit Vietnam last April, more than 1.79 million people have been infected. Of them, over 1.41 million have recovered.

For now, Vietnam has 346,296 active patients in total. Of them, 6,651 are severe cases.

Of the nation's 96-million population, 69.6 million have been vaccinated with two doses.

Also Tuesday, HCMC confirmed its sixth Omicron case and the nation's 25th.

The infection is a Taiwanese flight attendant arriving in the city on Dec. 29.

Of all Omicron cases detected in Vietnam until now, all arrived from abroad. No locally transmitted case has been confirmed.