New COVID-19 infection cases in Laos drop sharply

Laos has recorded 519 cases of COVID-19 and 12 new deaths across the country in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health said.

People are seen wearing masks at a train station in Vientiane. (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)
People are seen wearing masks at a train station in Vientiane. (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)

Among the new infections, four were imported and the rest were local transmissions.

The number of new cases continued to decline sharply, down 146 infections compared to January 3. Notably, just one day after falling to double digits, the capital city of Vientiane led in the country with 174 community cases reported on January 4.

Laos has so far logged a total of 113,951 COVID-19 cases with 403 confirmed deaths.

To deal with the situation, the Lao government has requested the Vientiane administration and provinces across the country to coordinate with relevant agencies to continue improving quarantine centres and treatment facilities.

Local residents are recommended to strictly follow pandemic prevention and control regulations and do not attend mass gatherings, especially in red zones to avoid the risk of contracting COVID-19.

In related news, Laos has just received more than 900,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine from the Australian Government through the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to support the country in speeding up vaccinations for people against COVID-19.