Students of Bà Rịa City, the southern province of Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu, got tested for COVID-19 before returning to in-person learning on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng Nhi

HÀ NỘI — With 23,953 COVID-19 cases logged in the past 24 hours, Wednesday saw the highest number of daily infections in the country since the beginning of the pandemic, breaking Tuesday's record.

This brings the total caseload in Việt Nam to 2,404,651 infections.

Hà Nội with 2,949 new transmissions continued to be the worst-affected area in the country, followed by the central province of Nghệ An with 1,900, and the three northern localities of Hải Phòng (1,295), Bắc Ninh (1,246) and Hải Dương (1,120).

The remaining infections were found in Hà Tĩnh (1,019), Thanh Hóa (988), Nam Định (938), Đà Nẵng (925), Vĩnh Phúc (853), Bình Định (809), Phú Thọ (800), Thái Nguyên (527), Ninh Bình (500), Bắc Giang (499), Thái Bình (450), Quảng Bình (423), Lào Cai (419), Quảng Nam (417), Lâm Đồng (357), Quảng Trị (333), Bình Phước (312), Sơn La (291), Quảng Ninh (283), Thừa Thiên-Huế (275), Hưng Yên (259), Tuyên Quang (259), Đắk Lắk (234), Khánh Hòa (232), Hà Nam (219), HCM City (219), Gia Lai (215), Quảng Ngãi (200), Phú Yên (198), Đắk Nông (187), Cà Mau (187), Kon Tum (169), Yên Bái (154), Cao Bằng (131), Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu (124), Lạng Sơn (115), Hà Giang (115), Lai Châu (91), Bình Thuận (91), Vĩnh Long (88), Bạc Liêu (82), Điện Biên (77), Bến Tre (72), Bắc Kạn (62), Bình Dương (32), Tây Ninh (31), Trà Vinh (26), Đồng Tháp (21), Long An (20), Cần Thơ (19), Đồng Nai (19), Hòa Bình (18), Kiên Giang (16), Hậu Giang (16), Ninh Thuận (12), An Giang (8 ) and Tiền Giang (7).

Việt Nam's seven-day average of new infections is currently at 15,584 cases, up significantly compared to a week ago (13,099 on February 2).

So far 192 cases of Omicron have been found, in HCM City (92), Quảng Nam (27), Quảng Ninh (20), Hà Nội (14), Khánh Hòa (11), Đà Nẵng (8 ), Hưng Yên (6), Kiên Giang (4), Thanh Hóa (2), Hải Dương (2), Hải Phòng (1), Long An (1), Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu (1), Bình Dương (1), Lâm Đồng (1) and Ninh Bình (1).

A total of 69,825 COVID-19 patients were given the all-clear, the second-highest ever, bringing the total recoveries to 2,196,602.

The country has 2,771 serious COVID-19 cases, with 335 requiring mechanical ventilation and 18 on life support.

New deaths continued to stay below 100, with 93 deaths recorded nationwide, bringing the total fatalities to 38,614, accounting for 1.6 per cent of total infections.

The seven-day average of daily COVID-19 deaths in Việt Nam is at 94.

To date, 183.73 million COVID-19 vaccine shots have been administered in the country, including 166.87 million in the adult population.

52 out of 63 localities in the country have reported full vaccine coverage in over 90 per cent of the adult population, and 17.4 million people have received the booster shots.

16.3 million doses of vaccines have been given to children aged 12-17 years, including 7.87 million second doses.

Despite the record-high number of infections, 48 localities in the country, including the two biggest cities Hà Nội and HCM City, are considered 'green' (low risk) in the health ministry's COVID-19 outbreak situation assessment, with 15 categorised as 'yellow' (medium risks), and no 'orange' or 'red' (high to very high risk) zones. — VNS