Laborers of Hansol Vina Co., Ltd in Binh Duong have their samples taken for Covid-19 testing. All 314 new domestic Covid-19 infections have been detected in HCMC and Binh Duong – PHOTO: VNA

HCMC – Among the 314 new locally-infected Covid-19 cases that the Ministry of Health reported this morning, July 8, as many as 234 were confirmed in HCMC and 80 others in Binh Duong Province.

All of the cases in Binh Duong were found at quarantine facilities and in areas under lockdown. Meanwhile, the sources of infection of 50 cases in HCMC are being investigated.

The new cases sent the total numbers of Covid-19 cases in HCMC and Binh Duong to 8,385 and 998, respectively.

As of this morning, Vietnam has had 21,494 domestic infections and 1,891 imported cases. The country's Covid-19 tally in the latest wave, which began on April 27, has reached 19,924 cases, recorded in 56 cities and provinces.

Speaking at a meeting with the HCMC government on July 7, Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said the number of new cases might continue surging in the upcoming days.

In order to respond to the complicated developments of the pandemic, the city must prepare all possible scenarios and response plans, Long added.

The Ministry of Health has established and dispatched seven teams to pandemic hotspots, including HCMC, Binh Duong, Quang Ngai, Phu Yen, Dong Thap, Long An and Tien Giang.

Minister Long said the ministry would call on medical workers nationwide to support the fight against the pandemic in HCMC and other southern localities.

More than 3,300 medical workers and students of medical schools under the Ministry of Health have arrived in HCMC.

The ministry will also establish 24 teams to Thu Duc City and districts in HCMC to help the city contain the pandemic. Some 10,000 people are expected to be mobilized to help HCMC, Long noted.

As the pandemic has been raging in the city, HCMC will practice stringent social distancing in accordance with the prime minister’s Directive 16 from 0 a.m. on July 9 for 15 days.

At a meeting yesterday to prepare for the deployment of Directive 16, municipal chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong said the city would raise its sample collection capacity to 1.3 million samples per day with 2,000 sample taking teams.

The city’s current testing capacity has reached 400,000 samples per day. Since May 26, the city has tested more than 1.7 million samples.