(VOVWORLD) - Ho Chi Minh city and neighboring Binh Duong province continue to record a high number of new COVID-19 cases with half of them being locally transmitted, according to Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long.
 Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chairs the online meeting of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, August 29, 2021. |
Infections are expected to rise in the coming days as a result of mass testing, Minister Long told an online meeting of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control chaired by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Sunday.
Mr. Long said the pandemic has eased in other localities in the southern region as a gradual decline of community cases has been reported. COVID-19 is currently under control in Hanoi in the north and Da Nang, Khanh Hoa, and Phu Yen in the central region, but the risk of new outbreaks remains, he warned.
The Health Ministry has deployed 16,000 medical workers and a large amount of medical equipment, ventilators, and drugs to aid the fight against coronavirus in Ho Chi Minh city and neighboring provinces. 11 intensive care units are operational in the south to treat severely ill patients.