Vietnam reports 16,553 new Covid-19 cases

Hanoi, Jan 9 (IANS) Vietnam has reported 16,553 new Covid-19 cases, including 16,513 locally transmitted and 40 imported, according to its Ministry of Health.

The Vietnamese capital Hanoi remained the locality with highest number of infections on Saturday with 2,791 cases, followed by central Khanh Hoa province with 798 cases and northern Hai Phong city with 748 cases, Xinhua news agency reported.

The infections brought the country's total tally to 1,876,394 with 34,117 deaths. Nationwide, as many as 1,488,038 Covid-19 patients have so far recovered, up 8,990 from Friday.

Some 159.2 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, including 70.8 million second shots and 10.2 million third shots, have been administered, according to the ministry.

Vietnam has by far gone through four coronavirus waves of increasing scale, complication and infectivity.

As of Saturday, the country has registered over 1.87 million locally transmitted Covid-19 cases since the start of the current wave in late April last year, the ministry said.