Notice says the HCM City's Hospital for Tropical Diseases is stopping people from visiting patients after confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported there. — VNA/VNS Photo Thu Hương

HÀ NỘI — A further 423 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Việt Nam on Wednesday, comprising 414 domestic and nine imported ones, according to the Ministry of Health.

Of the locally transmitted infections, Bắc Giang logged 279 cases, HCM City 99, Bắc Ninh 27, Hà Tĩnh four, Nghệ An three, Hà Nam one and Bắc Kạn one.

With 414 domestic cases, Wednesday saw the second highest daily increase. May 25 with 444 cases remains the day with the highest number of new locally-transmitted cases since April 27, marking the fourth wave of COVID-19 in Việt Nam.

The number of confirmed cases in HCM City in the fourth wave on Wednesday topped 1,000, after the city recorded 99 cases today, the highest number since the pandemic began earlier last year

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyễn Trường Sơn, who is leading the ministry’s special task force to support HCM City in COVID-19 prevention and control on Wednesday dismissed information that the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the city is due to a new variant of coronavirus.

Sơn said that the ministry verified with HCM City’s Pasteur Institute and could confirm that cases in the city were infected with the Indian B.1617.2 variant, also known as the Delta variant, according to the results of genetic sequencing for samples taken from COVID-19 patients in the city.

The health ministry today also worked with Việt Nam Vaccine Company to take the 288,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine the manufacturer delivered on May 25, 2021, to be distributed to outbreak hotspots in the country.

Of the 45 locally-transmitted cases reported in HCM City on Wednesday evening, 12 cases have not had sources of infection identified while the other five cases related to the church cluster and two related to HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases and 26 cases are F1 of earlier confirmed cases.

Of the locally transmitted cases on Wednesday, 398 cases were detected in quarantine sites or sealed-off areas.

The national tally reached 11,635, including 9,980 local cases and 1,655 imported cases. The number of COVID-19 cases since April 27, when the latest outbreak began, amounted to 8,410.

There were 4,590 recoveries as 47 COVID-19 patients were given the all-clear on Wednesday while the death toll remained at 61.

Twenty-four provinces have gone through 14 consecutive days without new cases. — VNS