A medical worker of Hanoi’s Cau Giay District swabs a man for Covid testing. The Ministry of Health confirmed 10,654 new Covid infections, 5,000 new recoveries, and 380 additional deaths today, August 19 – PHOTO: VNA

HCMC – The Ministry of Health confirmed a record of 10,654 new Covid infections, and 380 additional deaths today, August 19.

Fifteen of the fresh infections were imported cases while 10,639 others caught the disease through community transmission. Especially, the source of transmission of 6,407 locally-infected cases remains to be established.

HCMC as usual accounted for the most, at 4,425 cases, followed by its neighboring provinces of Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Long An with 3,225, 657, and 545 cases, respectively. The rest were recorded in 33 other provinces and cities across Vietnam.

Overall, the number of locally-transmitted cases today increased by 1,995 cases against yesterday.

As for the 380 Covid deaths, they were mostly reported in the southern region, with HCMC taking the lead with 307 cases.

Meanwhile, with the latest 5,000 recoveries, the country has reported a total of 120,059 recovered cases.

In related news, the central city of Danang began conducting Covid tests for people entering the city at Covid checkpoints starting today, aimed at promptly preventing the virus from spreading to the coastal city. Up to now, Danang has reported more than 2,500 cases in the on-going fourth wave, which struck Vietnam in late April.

In another development, the Mekong Delta province of Long An will implement a Covid screening plan for all residents in the province’s 15 districts and towns between August 20 and 31. The province’s domestic infection tally in the current wave has exceeded 16,500 cases.