Việt Nam reported a record number of new COVID-19 infections in a day since the country's fourth wave of COVID-19.

The Minister of Health said it was vital to protect the two central hospitals – the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases and the Cancer Hospital – which were locked down following the detection of local COVID-19 cases.

The domestic outbreak of COVID-19 grew on Saturday as the northern localities of Hà Nội, Bắc Ninh and Nam Định recorded more than 20 community infections this morning. 

The New Zealand Embassy in Việt Nam and the East Meets West Foundation (EMWF) on Friday announced the launch of a project to support vulnerable women in the northern province of Hải Dương to overcome the impacts of COVID-19.

HCM City aims to become a smart urban area and the country's driver of economic development by 2025, the city People’s Committee Chairman Nguyễn Thành Phong said at a conference held on May 5.

Recently, the Indian variant of the novel coronavirus has been detected in Việt Nam. At the same time, people who finished 14-day quarantine periods went on to test positive. Hoàng Vũ Mai Phương, Head of Virus Department, National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, talks to Sức khoẻ đời sống (Life and Health) Newspaper about research related to this virus variant.