355 positive cases confirmed in 16 localities, HCM City tops 200 at midday

347 out of the 355 new local cases were found in quarantine sites or in areas currently under lockdown.

The majority of the cases in the southern metropolis involve individuals who came into contact with confirmed patients, whilst the remaining cases detected in other provinces are either F1 contacts of confirmed patients or were detected in areas currently sealed off, with individual cases having links to industrial parks.

The new local infections therefore raise the total to 20,279 since the virus was detected again in the nation two months ago.

Amid the nation documenting 1,891 imported cases and 21,849 locally-transmitted infections, the death toll has increased to 105 following the confirmation of three more fatalities linked to COVID-19 and underlying health conditions on the same day.

In the face of complicated developments relating to the pandemic, Ho Chi Minh City is accelerating its testing capacity, with 2,000 healthcare teams now able to take 1.3 million nCoV samples each day, with a focus on high-risk areas.

According to Nguyen Thanh Phong, chairman of the People's Committee, the southern city's testing capacity currently stands at 400,000 aggregate samples a day. Since May 26, the city has tested more than 1.7 million samples as a means of detecting new local infections as swiftly as possible.

Furthermore, over 7,100 new positive patients are undergoing treatment in municipal hospitals, of which 335 are severe patients, with eight cases relying on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a sophisticated therapy used to save critically-ill patients.

Earlier in the morning Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired an online cabinet meeting with HCM City leaders to discuss a wide range of stronger pandemic prevention and control measures amid the widespread COVID-19 pandemic.

The government chief underlined the need to ensure security and order, and give top priority to the people’s health and lives while imposing social distancing measures.

The meeting aims to reach a clear consensus awareness and solutions for combined anti-pandemic efforts, and call on every people to join the whole political system at all levels in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinh emphasized.

As of July 8 midday, HCM City has registered a total of 8,585 community cases, with an average of between 500-600 cases per day. The infections were mostly detected in isolation and lockdown areas or have been contact traced after having close contact with confirmed patients. Besides, some symptomatic cases were found at medical facilities.

As many as 985,077 people in the city have been vaccinated against COVID-19 through the four vaccination drives