Viet Nam recorded 16,515 cases of COVID-19, including 39 imported one, during 24 hours from 4pm December 30 to 4pm December 31, according to the Ministry of Health.

A resident in a locked-down area in Hanoi has his nasal swab taken for COVID-19 testing (Photo: VNA)

Ha Noi recorded the highest number of infections with 1,914, followed by Vinh Long with 1,080 and Ca Mau with 1,063.

The national tally reached 1,731,257.

According to the Ministry of Health’s report, 7,291 patients nationwide are in serious conditions, with 773 requiring invasive ventilation and 19 on life support (ECMO).

On the day, the country saw 226 deaths from the disease. The death toll now hits 32,394, equal to 1.9 percent of the total caseload.

A total 18,642 patients were given the all-clear, taking the total number of recoveries to 1,355,286.

By December 30, the country had injected over 150.93 million doses of vaccines to date, with more than 68.43 million people now fully inoculated, while over 4.94 million third shots, either booster shots or the third shot of Abdala vaccine have been administered.

Source: VNA