Covid Claims 421 Lives In 2021

Source: Vientiane Times

Health authorities say that 421 people died from Covid related causes last year and that more than 100,000 people contracted the virus.

More than 7,000 people were treated for Covid in hospitals around the country, the National Taskforce for Covid-19 Prevention and Control announced.

Meanwhile, the number of ICU patients and deaths is increasing each day, with more cases of the virus continuing to be reported in all provinces.

In addition to Vientiane, the provinces recording the highest daily infection figures are Oudomxay, Luang Namtha, Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Bokeo. The taskforce reported that 3,879 tests for Covid were conducted across the country over the last 24 hours, revealing 641 new infections, of which four were imported.

In addition, the taskforce on Monday announced 11 more Covid-related deaths, bringing the total number of fatalities to date to 448.

Another 311 people have been discharged from hospital after recovering from the virus and 7,149 are currently receiving treatment or are under observation.

Of the 11 new deaths, 3 were reported in Vientiane, 2 in Oudomxay province, 2 in Bokeo province, 1 in Xaysomboun province, 1 in Vientiane province, 1 in Huaphan province, and 1 in Borikhamxay province.

Vientiane reported the highest number of new infections with 175, followed by Borikhamxay with
76, Phongsaly 42, Luang Namtha 41, Xieng Khuang 39, Vientiane province 30, Bokeo 30, Saravan 30, Xayaboury 26, Huaphan 25, and Xaysomboun 23, while Khammuan and Luang Prabang each reported 21 new cases.

Provinces where new cases were less than 20 did not report the new figures.

As of January 9, some 62.93 percent of the population had been given a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, while 49.16 percent had been fully vaccinated.

A total of 485,828 children aged 12 to 17 have now had a first dose of a Covid vaccine.

There have been many advertisements for rapid Covid test kits on social media, but health authorities warn that it’s important to remember that the use of AgRDT tests requires careful
scrutiny, because poor quality might produce false-negative results.

The use of these test kits without permission from the Ministry of Health violates
the regulations and people who break the rules will face legal action.

All components of the test kits must be properly disposed of after use, as they could
be contaminated and might spread the virus.