Rapid COVID-19 testing being performed in a hospital in District 10, HCM City, on Thursday. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Vũ

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam on Thursday recorded 1,307 domestically transmitted COVID-19 infections, the highest daily rise the country has ever seen.

The majority of new cases are in the country's coronavirus epicentre HCM City (with 915 cases) and southern provinces – Bình Dương (135), Đồng Tháp (108), Khánh Hoà (28), Phú Yên (24), Vĩnh Long (17), An Giang (11), Cà Mau (11), Bình Phước (3), Trà Vinh (2), Kiên Giang (1), Bình Thuận (1), Bến Tre (1), Tây Ninh (1), and Hậu Giang (1).

Some Central Highlands and central region provinces also reported new community cases – Quảng Ngãi (14), Lâm Đồng (3), Gia Lai (3), and Nghệ An (1).

Three northern localities with stabilising situations recorded single-digit rises in local cases – Bắc Ninh with eight patients, Bắc Giang with nine, and Hà Nội with five.

There were also seven imported COVID-19 cases detected today.

All in all, Việt Nam’s ongoing fourth wave of infections that emerged since late April, characterised by the dominance of highly infectious Delta variant of coronavirus, has reached 20,863 cases, pushing the national tally since the beginning of the pandemic past the 24,000 mark (currently at 24,385 confirmed cases).

The health ministry also reported 393 recoveries, bringing the country’s total to 8,950.

105 COVID-19 fatalities have been recorded in Việt Nam so far, 70 in the fourth wave.

HCM City lockdown

People keep their distances as they line up at a supermarket in District 10 to buy food on Thursday afternoon. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM City will enter strict lockdown for 15 days starting Friday (July 9) 0:00, with measures like ordering people to stay at home unless for necessary trips outside and closures of non-essential businesses, in a bid to contain the escalating virus outbreak that has now resulted in over 9,000 cases here.

At Thursday's Government meeting, health minister Nguyễn Thanh Long said Việt Nam would receive some 8.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in July, and the priority will be given to HCM City along with southern provinces that are in a critical situation.

A street devoid of traffic in District 3, HCM City, on Thursday afternoon, before the southern city enters strict lockdown tomorrow. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Vũ

HCM City has been told to arrange vaccination in multiple time frames at various small-scale vaccination sites, to avoid a repeat of overcrowding scenes that occurred in the mass campaign last month.

The health ministry would send 30 mobile vaccination vehicles to HCM City to provide the jabs to certain neighbourhoods, Long said. — VNS