Vietnam records highest daily Covid-19 cases at 503

Of the night's cases, 62 cases each were recorded in Bac Giang and HCMC, six in Bac Ninh, two in Ha Tinh and one in Lang Son.

All the cases in the northern provinces of Bac Giang and Bac Ninh are associated with existing outbreaks in the provinces' industrial parks. With Thursday’s tally, the number of local infections in Bac Giang from this wave has crossed 5,000.

48 cases in HCMC had made contact with confirmed Covid-19 patients, 10 are associated with the Christian mission cluster that emerged late last month, two with the city's locked down Hospital for Tropical Diseases, and two others are being contact traced to find the sources of infection.

All the cases in Ha Tinh and Lang Son are of people who'd come into contact with confirmed coronavirus patients.

In the new wave that started in late April, 8,914 local infections have been recorded in 40 cities and provinces.

Bac Giang has the highest number of infections with 5,007 cases, followed by Bac Ninh with 1,454 and HCMC with 1,197.

HCMC recorded a total of 137 cases on Thursday, topping its previous high of 99 on Wednesday.