According to a coronavirus update released by the Ministry of Health (MoH) at 06.00pm, up to 5,603 cases were detected in the community through random testing or test screening. Six people tested positive upon returning from overseas, and the rest were diagnosed in quarantine or lockdown areas.
Binh Duong, an industrial complex hub in the south, overtook Ho Chi Minh City, the largest coronavirus hotspot, registering 4,868 new cases.
It was followed by HCM City with 3,934 new cases, Dong Nai 743, Long An 449, Tien Giang 354, An Giang 131, Dong Thap 116, and Kien Giang 112, all in the south.
In the central region, Da Nang and Khanh Hoa continued to lead regional localities in infection numbers, reporting 144 and 131 new cases respectively.
The past 24 hours saw Hanoi capital which is implementing extended social distancing measures record 50 more cases, with more than half detected in residential areas.
More infections were also registered in dozens of other localities from north to south, mostly in the southern and central regions.
As of 06.pm on August 26 Vietnam has documented 392,938 coronavirus cases, ranking 66th out of 222 countries and territories worldwide in infection numbers.
Of the total, 388,814 locally acquired infections have been detected since the virus recurred nearly four months ago.
HCM City remains the hardest hit locality, reporting 194,100 infections, followed by Binh Duong 86,050, Dong Nai 20,471 and Long An 19,495.
As many as 188,488 patients have been discharged from hospital after making a full recovery from the disease, including 18,567 recoveries announced on August 26.
The MoH also recorded 318 more deaths in 14 localities on August 26, with HCM City and Binh Duong registering 222 and 46 fatalities respectively.
The number of COVID-19 deaths in Vietnam has risen to 9,667, accounting for 2.5% of the total number of cases and 0.4% higher than the average COVID-19 death rate in the world.
