A sample being taken for COVID-19 testing in Hà Nội. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Health announced 12,450 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, the highest daily figure in over two and a half months. 

A further 164 deaths were also recorded across the country.

Among the new cases, 6,842 were found in the community and 21 were imported.

The total number of cases nationwide is now 1,168,228.

Compared to Wednesday, the number of daily cases increased nationally by 640.

Hồ Chí Minh City topped the list with 1,582 new infections, followed by Cần Thơ Province with 741 and Tây Ninh with 683.

The capital city of Hà Nội reported 264 new cases.

The other infections were found in Bình Dương (678), Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu (658), Bạc Liêu (617), Đồng Tháp (609), Đồng Nai (543), Vĩnh Long (491), Sóc Trăng (486), Bình Thuận (402), Bến Tre (401), Kiên Giang (397), Bình Phước (342), Trà Vinh (294), Cà Mau (287), An Giang (248), Hậu Giang (239), Lâm Đồng (235), Khánh Hòa (191), Bình Định (159), Hà Giang (135), Gia Lai (128), Tiền Giang (123), Bắc Ninh (122), Nghệ An (118), Long An (110), Thừa Thiên Huế (96), Đắk Lắk (93), Quảng Nam (92), Quảng Bình (91), Đắk Nông (69), Thanh Hóa (69), Đà Nẵng (66), Hòa Bình (64), Thái Bình (60), Vĩnh Phúc (54), Nam Định (42), Quảng Ngãi (39), Phú Thọ (34), Ninh Thuận (32), Tuyên Quang (28), Quảng Trị (26), Hà Tĩnh (26), Phú Yên (24), Bắc Giang (20), Quảng Ninh (19), Hà Nam (18), Điện Biên (17), Lạng Sơn (13), Hưng Yên (13), Thái Nguyên (10), Sơn La (9), Cao Bằng (8 ), Ninh Bình (5), Hải Dương (5), Lào Cai (2) and Hải Phòng (2).

A further 5,627 recoveries were reported on Thursday, taking the total number of patients given the all-clear to 942,888.

There are currently 5,475 patients in a serious condition in hospital; 26 are on life support (ECMO).

Việt Nam has so far administered more than 114.5 million doses of vaccines, and over 46 million people are now fully inoculated. — VNS