An ambulance transports a Covid-19 patient to a local hospital in Thanh Hoa Province for treatment. The Ministry of Health reported 3,794 new cases of Covid-19 by community transmission this morning, August 7 – PHOTO: MOH

HCMC – The Ministry of Health reported 3,794 new cases of Covid-19 by community transmission this morning, August 7, dipping 215 cases compared to yesterday morning.

Of the fresh cases detected in 17 provinces and cities, 2,861 cases were found in quarantine centers or areas under lockdown, while the source of transmission of the rest remains unknown.

HCMC as the biggest coronavirus hotspot accounted for 1,836 cases. Its neighboring provinces of Binh Duong and Dong Nai reported 882 and 466 cases, respectively. The remaining cases were recorded in 14 other localities across Vietnam.

The new locally-infected cases have raised the country’s domestic infection tally in the latest wave since late April to more than 193,000 cases in 62 of the country’s 63 provinces and cities.

Regarding vaccination, the Health Ministry yesterday asked localities and agencies to ramp up the program. By August 10, if any of them remains slow in rolling out vaccination drives, the ministry would announce their vaccination progress on local mass media, reallocate their remaining amount of vaccine doses to other units, and stop allocating additional vaccine doses to them in the next phases.

In related news, HCMC has proposed establishing five field 115 satellite emergency stations to serve the emergency treatment need of patients. These stations are expected to be converted from passenger transport vehicles in the city.

Also, HCMC requested both public and private hospitals, Covid-19 treatment hospitals, and medical centers citywide to stay ready to admit patients for medical check-ups or emergency treatment. They were asked not to refuse to receive new patients

In another development, the capital city of Hanoi has mapped out a plan to timely purchase an adequate amount of medical supplies to cope with possible scenarios in which it could need 5,000, 10,000, or 20,000 beds to treat coronavirus patients.

Elsewhere, the central city of Danang decided to pilot quarantining direct contacts of confirmed coronavirus cases at home in Ngu Hanh Son and Hoa Vang districts, after these direct contacts completed the seven-day quarantine mandate at centralized quarantine centers and tested negative for the virus three times.