20 Hanoi districts record Omicron infections

In a report submitted to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, the ministry said 87 percent of positive Covid samples taken for gene sequencing have been found containing the Omicron BA.2 subvariant, which is said to be 1.5 times more transmissible than the original Omicron strain (BA.1) and slightly better at evading immunity than BA.1.

Tran Thi Nhi Ha, director of Hanoi Health Department, said cases would continue to increase in the coming days, an inevitable outcome of society reopening following the Lunar New Year holiday.

In the coming time, Hanoi will continue to focus on reducing the number of severe cases and deaths with a series of measures like making a list of high-risk groups including the elderly and those with underlying conditions, prioritize booster shots for high-risk groups, and deploy periodic testing to detect severe cases early.

In the past month, the number of daily infections in Hanoi has increased nearly 10 times, from nearly 3,000 on Feb. 6 to more than 25,000 infections on March 5.

So far in the fourth wave that hit Vietnam last April, Hanoi has recorded over 365,000 cases and 1,071 deaths.