Ho Chi Minh City is randomly conducting genome sequencing of positive test samples for the emergence of the Omicron variant in the community, said an official of the municipal Department of Health.

All public and private hospitals in HCM City that meet the conditions mandated by health authorities can now treat people entering the country with COVID-19.

HCM City has seen positive signs in the fight against pandemic with a drop in the number of daily cases to under 1,000 and deaths falling to under 50, according to its Steering Committee for Pandemic Prevention and Control.

Ho Chi Minh City on December 27 silenced rumours surfacing on social media that a local resident had contracted the new variant Omicron following a RT-PCR test at FV Hospital.

Private First Class Vu Duc Thanh, 19, opens the door of a cold storage unit that holds the bodies of COVID-19 victims, so he and his colleagues can take the next coffin out for cremation in HCM City’s Cu Chi District.