NDO/VNA - Vietnam documented 16,553 new cases of COVID-19, 40 of which were imported, over the last 24 hours to 4:00pm on January 8, according to the Ministry of Health.

Hanoi recorded the highest number of infections with 2,791 cases, followed by Khanh Hoa with 798 and Hai Phong with 748.

The national tally now totals 1,876,394, including 30 infections of Omicron.

According to the ministry's report, 6,352 patients nationwide are in serious conditions, with 760 requiring invasive ventilation and 20 on life support (ECMO).

On the same day, the disease reportedly claimed 240 lives, raising the death toll to 34,117, equal to 1.8 percent of the total caseload.

A total 8,990 patients were given the all-clear, taking the total number of recoveries to 1,488,038.

By January 7, the country had injected 159,152,206 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with more than 70.77 million people now fully inoculated, while over 10.17 million third shots have been administered.