A man in Cao Bằng City is vaccinated against COVID-19 on Saturday. — VNA/VNS Photo Chu Hiệu

HÀ NỘI — There were 142,136 COVID-19 infections reported in Việt Nam on Sunday, bringing the country’s caseload since the start of the pandemic to 4,434,700.

Of the new cases, eight were imported and quarantined upon arrival.

Hà Nội continues to top the daily numbers with 29,578 transmissions and 11 deaths in the past 24 hours. Across the country, Sunday’s new infections were nearly 4,560 higher than yesterday's record.

The remaining infections were found in Bắc Ninh (8,355), Nghệ An (7,579), Hải Phòng (5,154), Hưng Yên (3,904), Phú Thọ (3,694), Sơn La (3,559), Nam Định (3,459), Bình Dương (3,442), Hải Dương (3,363), Lạng Sơn (3,341), Quảng Ninh (2,959), HCM City (2,879), Hòa Bình (2,877), Vĩnh Phúc (2,794), Tuyên Quang (2,741), Bắc Giang (2,697), Thái Nguyên (2,682), Đắk Lắk (2,680), Ninh Bình (2,460), Hà Nam (2,396), Thái Bình (2,270), Hà Giang (2,212), Bình Phước (2,202), Yên Bái (2,178), Quảng Bình (2,133), Điện Biên (2,105), Cao Bằng (2,018), Đà Nẵng (1,972), Lào Cai (1,955), Cà Mau (1,903), Bình Định (1,889), Lai Châu (1,806), Khánh Hòa (1,485), Phú Yên (1,296), Thanh Hóa (1,280), Bắc Kạn (1,150), Bến Tre (1,071), Lâm Đồng (925), Quảng Trị (918), Đắk Nông (884), Hà Tĩnh (821), Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu (739), Tây Ninh (617), Quảng Ngãi (469), Trà Vinh (456), Bình Thuận (420), Vĩnh Long (403), Quảng Nam (354), Thừa Thiên-Huế (328), Kon Tum (305), Bạc Liêu (235), Đồng Nai (212), Long An (137), Kiên Giang (121), Cần Thơ (116), An Giang (51), Đồng Tháp (50), Ninh Thuận (26), Hậu Giang (14), Tiền Giang (9).

Nguyễn Thanh Long, Minister of Health said that the remarkable increase on the number of COVID-19 cases recently was mainly due to the Omicron variant, which has surfaced in nearly 80 countries and territories and accounts for the majority of infections detected.

The current vaccine is still effective in reducing the severity, mortality and hospitalisation rate of the Omicron strain, he said.

Due to the high rate of vaccine coverage nationwide, especially of high-risk patient groups, the nationwide mortality/infection rate has decreased sharply. However, vaccination should still be considered a top priority.

Long suggested localities complete the third booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by March.

According to the Ministry of Health, the Omicron strain has increased the infection rate, especially in HCM City and Hà Nội.

Reports from Hà Nội showed that the Omicron mutation has been recorded in 20 out of 30 districts. The BA.2 variant, which was 1.5 times more likely to spread than the original variant BA.1, accounted for 87 per cent of all samples detected.

In HCM City, the Omicron variant accounted for 76 per cent of samples of genetical sequenced results.

Việt Nam reported 87 COVID-19 deaths on Sunday, raising the nation's death toll since the pandemic started in 2020 to 40,813.

So far, 65,445 COVID-19 patients have made a full recovery. The total number of recovered patients in Việt Nam has now reached 2,681,447.

About 4,208 COVID-19 patients are in serious or critical condition, with the majority requiring oxygen and 312 requiring invasive ventilation; eight are on life support.

The Ministry of Health announced that more than 197.5 million of COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Việt Nam as of Sunday, including 180.2 million doses for adults.

So far, 62 out of 63 localities in the country have achieved a vaccination coverage of above 90 per cent in the adult population.

A total of 17.01 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been given to children aged 12-17 years. Throughout the country, 56 out of 63 localities have reported coverage of more than 90 per cent in this age group. — VNS