The Ministry of Health reported that those infected in the more than 60 provinces and cities where the virus is present were 169,114, number with wich the daily average for the week amounts to 154,000 a figure only surpassed by South Korea.

Hanoi was once again the territory with the highest number of infected people, reporting 31,899, very close to its maximum of three days ago, which confirmed that it is the epicenter of the pandemic in Vietnam.

This Friday, the Ministry of Health also reported 71 deaths, which brought the total to 41,228.

Until the end of April last year, this was one of the countries that was coping best with the disease (3,428 cases, 35 deaths), but first the irruption of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, and since the end of December, the Omicron variant, pushed the statistics up to the current levels.

Vietnam is focused on achieving herd immunity through vaccination. To date, four-fifths of the 98 million population have completed the two-dose immunization schedule and 42% have completed a third booster.

pgh/arm/jcm/asg