Hanoi Covid infection rate down: health department

Tran Thi Nhi Ha, director of the Hanoi Department of Health, said the number of daily new cases in the city has been dropping over the last five days, from around 32,000 new cases on March 11 to 26,000 on March 16.

Only 1 percent of all Covid-19 patients have to be hospitalized while the rest are treated at home, she added.

Hanoi is also one of the most successful localities when it comes to Covid-19 vaccination, Ha said. The capital has fully vaccinated 6.2 million people and gave 3.8 million people their third Covid-19 vaccine shots.

However, Ha warned that people must stay vigilant even as case numbers begin to drop.

“The city cannot afford to be lax. It must continue to improve medical capacity, encourage people to follow coronavirus prevention protocols and introduce solutions to protect the most vulnerable members of society like elderly people, children, those with underlying conditions and those with compromised immune systems,” she said.

Hanoi is currently aiming to give all its adult population their third Covid-19 vaccine shots within this month. Once the Ministry of Health issues a guideline to vaccinate children aged 5-12, Hanoi would immediately follow suit.

The city is also continuing to sequence coronavirus samples to detect and keep track of new variants.