A medical worker in Hanoi, Vietnam, takes a sample of a resident for Covid-19 testing. VIETNAM NEWS AGENCY
Despite an increasing number of Covid-19 cases recorded in Hanoi in recent days, the number of hospitalised patients has not increased considerably, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH).
Among nearly 5,900 Covid-19 patients being treated at hospitals in the Vietnamese capital, there are 958 mild or asymptomatic cases, more than 3,800 moderate cases (down 2.6 per cent compared to the average seven days ago), with 91 patients in serious or critical condition (down nearly 3 per cent).
The number of cases that require High Flow Nasal Cannula and non-invasive respiratory assistance sharply decreased by 26 per cent.
According to the MoH, Vietnam recorded 147,358 Covid-19 infections on March 7, bringing the national tally since the start of the pandemic to 4,582,058.
Hanoi continued to top the daily numbers with a record of 32,317 transmissions and 15 deaths. It was followed by central Nghe An (10,153), northern Bac Ninh province (7,873) and northern Phu Tho province (4,326).
As many as 36,993 Covid patients made a full recovery on March 7, lifting the total number of recovered patients in the country to 2,718,440.
More than 4,100 Covid patients are in serious or critical condition, with the majority requiring oxygen masks.
An additional 78 Covid-related deaths were confirmed in the day, raising the nation’s death toll to 40,891.
At a meeting on Covid-19 prevention and control and economic recovery in Ho Chi Minh City on March 7, Head of the Office of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health Nguyen Thi Huynh Mai said people should not hoard the antiviral drug molnupiravir as its shelf life was shorter than other drugs.
The MoH had licensed three pharmaceutical companies to produce antiviral drugs with a monthly capacity of about two million pills, so there would be no shortage of drugs, she said.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) still considers the Covid-19 outbreak a global pandemic and predicts unforeseen variations. In many countries, the pandemic is still complicated, requiring the maintenance of high-level pandemic response activities.
The rate of severe cases and deaths in the country has decreased strongly, though the daily number of deaths is still around 100.
The MoH said that Vietnam should not yet consider the Covid-19 pandemic as an “endemic disease”.
VIET NAM NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
