(VOVWORLD) - Vietnam's tally of locally-transmitted infections increased to 8,106 as the Health Ministry confirmed 86 more fresh community transmissions at noon on Thursday.
The 86 cases recorded domestically include Bac Giang (52), Ho Chi Minh City (15), Bac Ninh (10), Hanoi (4), Ha Tinh (2), and one each in Lang Son , Hai Duong, and Long An.
Vietnam also confirmed two more imported cases in the two southern provinces of Kien Giang and An Giang, raising the total imported infections to 1,617.
The COVID-19 pandemic has so far claimed 55 lives in Vietnam.
16 pandemic-hit localities have now gone 14 days without new infections.
The same day the Mekong delta province of Hau Giang launched its second phase of its COVID-19 vaccination campaign with 14,400 doses.
Ho Chi Minh City's Health Department has requested that local hospitals perform RT-PCR tests for COVID-19 on any visitors with symptoms such as a fever, a cough, or changes to their sense of smell.
The southern metropolis has seen a growing number of fresh cases and individuals requiring centralized quarantining which is proving to be a burden for the healthcare system and threatening to overload the capacity of quarantine zones.