HO CHI MINH CITY – New COVID-19 infections have been on the rise in Vietnam’s southern Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), the country’s former pandemic hotspot, in recent days, with Omicron currently the dominant variant here, according to the city’s center for disease control (HCDC).

The southern hub recorded 1,356 new infections and 334 cases of hospitalization on Tuesday, both higher than the previous days, but the numbers of severe cases and deaths were still at a low level, the HCDC said in its latest report released Tuesday night.

The city is conducting random sampling to assess the spread of the Omicron variant in the community. Among 92 samples positive with COVID-19 sent for analyzing between Feb. 10 and 17, a total of 70 cases, equivalent to 76 percent, were confirmed to be the Omicron variant.

Read more: Vietnam reports 23,956 new COVID-19 cases

Facing the spread of Omicron, municipal authorities are stepping up anti-pandemic measures, including the ongoing vaccination campaign, with a view that vaccination is a critically important measure for enhancing immunity against the Omicron variant which is believed to spread faster than the Delta.

Ho Chi Minh City is by far considered the pandemic worst-hit locality in Vietnam with the highest number of transmissions and fatalities.

As of Tuesday, the city had reported a total of 523,794 COVID-19 infections, with 19,931 deaths, according to official data by the country’s Ministry of Health.