In its night update of daily case count, the Health Ministry listed 103 local cases, including 44 in HCMC. The southern metropolis already registered 40 other cases in the morning and noon announcements.

All the 44 patients recorded at night are linked to known outbreaks and had been quarratined following contact tracing.

The municipal Department of Health on Saturday asked medical staff in the city to limit contact with their friends and relatives and avoid gathering in crowded places as the city is dealing with multiple Covid clusters with unidentified transmission sources.

Also on Saturday night, 41 new cases were recorded in epicenter Bac Giang Province and 16 in its neighbor Bac Ninh Province, all associated to outbreaks in industrial parks, and having been isolated.

The source of transmission of two new cases in the central province of Ha Tinh remain unclear.

The Health Ministry also declared 23 Covid-19 patients free of coronavirus and reported one death on Saturday, raising the number of recoveries since the pandemic broke out in Vietnam to 3,827 and fatalities to 58.

After Vietnam was hit by a new Covid-19 wave more than five weeks ago, 7,040 community transmissions have been recorded in 39 of its 63 cities and provinces, including major cities, industrial hubs and localities housing foreign tech giants.

Bac Giang and Bac Ninh now have the highest number of infections, at 3,916 and 1,289, followed by HCMC with 694.

Le Nga