Hanoi's health sector statistics show that new Covid-19 cases have continuously decreased, with no fatalities recorded for a week [from November 7 to 13].

"The Covid-19 pandemic in the city continues to be under control; however, the relevant units should prepare for unforeseen pandemic problems," the health department said.

Health officials said it is necessary to keep promoting vaccination as coronavirus is still constantly mutating into new strains, stressing that locals must be on high alert for the new sub-variants.

They cited the World Health Organization (WHO) that the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants of the Omicron strain are likely to spread more rapidly than previous variants.

Vaccination against Covid-19 for children in Hanoi's Ba Dinh District. Photo: Pham Hung/ The Hanoi Times.

“New variants BA.2.74, BA.2.75, BA.2.76, BQ.1, and the latest XBB have more potential to evade some immune defenses than Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5, leading to the risk of outbreaks again,” WHO said.

The organization recommends that the currently-licensed vaccines still have a high protective value and could reduce the risk of severe transmission for all SARS-CoV-2 virus variants.

As of November 13, over 22 million third doses have been injected into adults in the city, reaching almost 99%. More than 55% of children aged 12 to 17 were administered the third dose.

According to the Ministry of Health, Vietnam recorded 242 new Covid-19 cases on November 13. This is the week's day with the lowest number of new cases. It also marked a week with no deaths from the disease across the country.

The new cases brought Vietnam's total number of infections to more than 11.5 million since the pandemic broke out, ranking 13th out of 230 countries and territories in terms of infections.

Meanwhile, 70 patients were declared free from the disease on the same day, lifting the total number of recoveries to 10.6 million.

More than 262 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in the country so far.

The Vietnamese government still called on local agencies to strictly implement pandemic prevention and control measures, including regularly assessing risk factors and proactively working out scenarios in response to all possible pandemic situations.

Besides, people are strongly recommended to keep following prevention measures (face mask-wearing, hands disinfection), not only for Covid-19 but for other diseases, including dengue fever, adenovirus, and monkeypox.