A medical worker conducts Covid-19 tests. The Ministry of Health has confirmed 3,657 new Covid-19 cases and 139 fatalities - PHOTO: VNA

HCMC – The Ministry of Health this evening, July 30, reported 3,657 new Covid-19 cases, including 22 imported cases and 3,635 domestic infections in 30 localities, and 139 Covid-19 deaths in nine localities.

Among the new locally-infected cases, the infection sources of 715 cases remain unknown.

HCMC continued to make up the largest number of the new infections with 1,542 cases, followed by Binh Duong with 636, Long An with 448, Dong Nai with 157 and Can Tho with 151 cases.

Moreover, 139 other cases were found in Khanh Hoa, 133 in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, 81 in Hanoi, 67 in Dong Thap, 65 in Danang and 36 in Tra Vinh.

The rest were detected in 19 other provinces.

Thus, the country recorded 8,622 Covid-19 cases today, rising 1,029 cases over yesterday and being the second highest single-day spike in Covid-19 cases. HCMC alone accounted for nearly half of the cases, at 4,282, down 310 cases against yesterday.

With the new cases today, HCMC’s Covid-19 tally has reached 86,063, while Binh Duong has had 12,604 cases.

In the current Covid-19 wave, the country has reported 133,206 locally transmitted Covid-19 cases in 62 cities.

Today, 3,704 Covid-19 patients were discharged from hospital, raising the total number of recoveries to 35,484.

As for the 139 Covid-19 deaths recorded from July 16 to 30 and confirmed this evening, 122 cases were in HCMC, six in Long An, three in Khanh Hoa, two each in Ben Tre and Binh Duong, and one each in Dong Nai, Vinh Long, Can Tho and Vinh Phuc.

Thus, 298 Covid-19 fatalities were confirmed today, raising the country’s Covid-19 death count to 1,161.

Thu Duc City and districts in HCMC have established 194 centralized quarantine centers with over 37,000 beds for asymptomatic Covid-19 patients. At these centers, which have been established by requisitioning schools’ dorms, unused apartment buildings and hotels, a doctor and two nurses will take care of 100 patients.

The city will mobilize medical workers from city-level hospitals and volunteers for these centers. At least 371 doctors and 742 nurses are needed.

The city has administered nearly 500,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses eight days after launching the fifth vaccination drive, which is expected to be completed in one more week, said HCMC Vice Chairman Duong Anh Duc.

At a press briefing today, Duc said the vaccination drive had been conducted since July 22 with 624 vaccination sites.

The sixth vaccination drive is expected to begin in August to administer the vaccines to two thirds of residents aged over 18 in the city.

The medical forces in Thu Duc City and districts will play the main role in the vaccination and the municipal Department of Health will provide support in personnel. The city will mobilize private hospitals for the vaccination and administer vaccines at fixed sites and mobile clinics.

In addition, the city will administer the Covid-19 vaccine to locals after 6 p.m. despite a ban of all residents from going out after 6 p.m. without a legitimate reason. It will not limit the number of vaccinated people per day per site.

According to Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Health Nguyen Hoai Nam, to accelerate the vaccination, residents will declare their underlying illnesses, if any, at home and be observed for any reaction for 15 minutes instead of 30 minutes after being vaccinated.

In related news, the Danang Party Committee’s Standing Board today issued Resolution 08 tightening anti-pandemic measures from 6 p.m. on July 31.

Over the past 20 days, the city has detected nearly 600 Covid-19 cases with the infection sources of many cases remaining unknown. Many infection clusters have been found in the community and 47 out of 56 communes and wards in Danang have detected Covid-19 cases.

Secretary of the Danang Party Committee Nguyen Van Quang said the city had issued strict anti-pandemic measures comparable to those in the prime minister’s Directive 16. In the upcoming days, the city will restrict residents from going out during certain hours. More checkpoints will be set up in inner-city and residential areas, while patrol teams will conduct random checks.

The local healthcare sector must accelerate the testing work in the city. In addition, the city will also pilot the home quarantine of direct contacts of Covid-19 patients.