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Under the Health Ministry’s new criteria, HCMC is now a yellow zone, which means a medium risk locality.
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The Ministry of Health reported another 3,027 local Covid-19 patients in 49 cities and provinces Tuesday, down 132 from Monday.
From Oct. 12 to 18, HCMC recorded 7,039 infections, down from 11,652 the previous week, which means 104.5 cases per 100,000 population, meaning the Covid-19 situation in the city was at the medium-risk or yellow level, Tang Chi Thuong, director of the municipal Health Department, said at a meeting Tuesday.
The city has also vaccinated almost 99 percent of residents aged 18 and older with the first shot.
The city also meets the criteria for ‘medium-risk level’ in terms of medical capacity, as it can provide enough intensive care units for critical Covi-19 patients apart from facilities for categorizing patients and treating severe cases, as also mobile medical forces to take care of those quarantined at home.
As of Tuesday, the Covid-19 situation was at the medium-risk level, down from the high-risk level as evaluated last week, when the Health Ministry was calculating the number of new cases per 100,000 a week.
Although the situation has improved, it could prove temporary, Thuong cautioned.
Vietnam records 3,159 new local Covid cases, three localities with the highest numbers of cases are Ho Chi Minh City with 907, Binh Duong with 500 and Dong Nai with 371.
The new cases bring Vietnam’s Covid-19 tally since the start of the pandemic to 870,255, including 865,559 in the fourth wave, which hit the nation in late April.
The ministry also announced 75 Covid deaths, including 47 in HCMC and 11 in Binh Duong, raising the nation’s death toll to 21,344, including 21,309 in the fourth wave.
A total of 1,866 patients recovered on Tuesday, raising the number of recoveries to 794,846.
Of more than 54,000 patients under treatment, 3,522 are severe cases, according to VNExpress.