11,172 COVID-19 cases detected over 24-hour period as 11,200 recover

An additional 11,172 people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus across 35 localities nationwide on September 13, thereby taking the overall number of infections during the latest pandemic wave to 620,165, the Ministry of Health reported.

Ho Chi Minh City and its neighbour Binh Duong province continue to register the highest number of local infections, with 5,446 and 3,651, respectively.

The other five localities recording rather high number of cases behind Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong include, Dong Nai with 768, Long Anh with 327 and Tien Giang with 161.

The past seven days saw the nation record 12,446 infections per day.

Of the latest cases recorded nationwide on September 13, a total of 5,926 were detected within the local community, with the rest being detected in quarantine zones and areas under lockdown.

Following these latest cases, the nation is ranked 49th out of 222 countries and regions in terms of total infections, although it is 156th in terms of infections per one million people.

A total of 11,200 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospital over the past 24 hours in order to bring the total number of recoveries up to 385,778.

The death toll in the country currently stands at more than 15,660, accounting for around 2.5% of all cases nationwide following the confirmation of an additional 298 fatalities across 13 localities on September 13.

Most notably, more than 29 million people have now been vaccinated against the virus, with over 5.3 million people being fully vaccinated with both doses.

Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh City is set to devise specific solutions to gradually reopen the local economy after mid-September and beyond.

This is largely dependent on how the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak develops, with the opening of the economy set to be implemented step by step to ensure the community's safety.

Given the real pandemic situation in the southern city, it is impossible for it to bring the pandemic under control by the September 15 deadline that has been set out by the Government.

According to Nguyen Van Nen, municipal party secretary, the city will have to ask for a deadline extension, perhaps by late September, in order to fulfil its target. The Municipal Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control must spend more time considering before consulting the Government on the issue.

Since the start of the latest pandemic wave, the southern metropolis has so far recorded 303,475 local cases and more than 12,088 deaths.