HANOI, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam reported 149 new COVID-19 cases from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time Saturday, including 145 locally transmitted and four imported, raising the total confirmed cases in the country to 3,985, according to its Ministry of Health.
The community cases were all detected in northern and central localities, including 94 in the northern Bac Giang province, 17 in the northern Bac Ninh province and 15 in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi, among others.
Most of them are contacts of previously confirmed patients or linked to the clusters of infections in the localities.
The imported cases are all Vietnamese citizens who recently entered the country from abroad and were quarantined upon arrival.
The health ministry also said that a 89-year-old woman with COVID-19 died Saturday, the country's 36th coronavirus death and the first in eight months.
The patient was diagnosed with severe pneumonia due to COVID-19, as well as advanced respiratory failure, diabetes and hypertension.
As many as 2,668 patients have so far recovered, up 11 from Friday, the health ministry said.
As of Saturday, Vietnam had recorded a total of 2,522 domestically transmitted cases, including 952 detected since the start of the latest outbreak in late April, according to the ministry. Enditem