The Ministry of Health on October 18 announced 3,168 new COVID-19 cases, including nine imported, bringing the country's tally to 867,221.

Collecting samples for COVID-19 testing in Thanh Hoa (Photo: VNA)

A further 75 deaths were also announced, mostly in southern provinces and cities, with 51 in Ho Chi Minh City and 14 in Binh Duong province. The national death count is now 21,269, about 2.5 percent of the total confirmed cases.

Five southern localities saw three-digit numbers of new cases today: HCM City (968 cases), Binh Duong (439), Dong Nai (393), Soc Trang (174), and An Giang (109), followed by four more Mekong Delta provinces: Kien Giang (99), Tien Giang (94), Ca Mau (77), Long An (68) and Dong Thap (61), showing that the southern regions continue to be the country's biggest hotspot.

The daily new cases in the rest of the country are as follows: Phu Tho (58), Bac Lieu (48), Dak Lak (46), Quang Nam (45), Thanh Hoa (42), Gia Lai (40), Tra Vinh (33), Khanh Hoa (31), Hau Giang (28), Binh Thuan (28), Can Tho (27), Nghe An (25), Nam Dinh (22), Kon Tum (20), Ha Nam (20), Quang Ngai (19), Tay Ninh (18), Bình Định (15), Quảng Bình (15), Vinh Long (14), Thua Thien Hue (12), Ben Tre (9), Binh Phuoc (9), Ba Ria - Vung Tau (8 ), Quang Tri (8 ), Phu Yen (6), Ninh Thuan (6), Tuyen Quang (6), Hanoi (6), Dak Nong (4), Bac Ninh (4), Thai Binh (3), Ninh Binh (1), and Ha Giang (1).

Viet Nam’s seven-day average of daily new cases stands at 3,260, down by nearly 1,000 from the average of 4,183 noted a week before.

In the past 24 hours, 107,224 pooled COVID-19 tests were performed on 202,147 people. The number of tests during the fourth wave of infections (starting from April 27) has reached 20,938,514, with 57,727,568 people tested.

The Health Ministry also announced the recovery of 1,136 patients on the same day, bringing the total to 792,980.

Of the current patients hospitalised, 3,543 are in a serious condition, 534 require invasive ventilation and 21 are on life support (ECMO).

A total of 63.4 million doses have been administered (1.31 million doses on October 17), with 18.1 million people now fully vaccinated.

Source: VNA