Vietnam records 423 new domestic Covid patients

The local Covid-19 tally of Vietnam's ongoing wave was raised by 423 Friday morning to 21,289, with Ho Chi Minh City recording the most.

The southern metropolis registered 350 new patients. Of them, 307 were detected in isolated areas and quarantined zones, and 43 are being contact traced.

The remaining cases confirmed Friday morning are in nine other localities.

HCMC's neighbor of Long An Province got 37 cases, with 16 in quarantined and isolated areas and 21 returning from the city.

Dong Nai Province which also borders HCMC reported 15 cases, including 13 that have had contact with Covid-19 patients and two with unclear transmission sources.

The central Phu Yen Province recorded six cases that are all associated with existing cases.

Mekong Delta's An Giang Province registered five cases, with four having direct contact with previously confirmed patients and one in an area under lockdown.

The central Khanh Hoa Province reported four cases, including three linked to a Covid-19 case and one with unknown infection source.

The northern Bac Ninh Province got three cases that had returned from HCMC and Hanoi prior to their positive test results.

The case in the northern Vinh Phuc is a 35-year-old woman returning from HCMC.

The case in Gia Lai Province in the Central Highlands is a 19-year-old man who had also visited HCMC.

The case in Mekong Delta's Bac Lieu Province is a 28-year-old man related to a cluster at Binh Dien wholesale market in HCMC's District 8.

Vietnam has recorded community infections in 57 of its 63 cities and provinces so far in its ongoing wave of Covid-19, which started on April 27 and has been the nation's most challenging one by far.

HCMC accounts for most patients, at 9,416.

The country has vaccinated more than 3.98 million people against the new coronavirus, and 249,532 have got two doses.