The HCMC Department of Health yesterday said that the number of Covid-19 cases in the area is on the rise again, mainly due to the NB.1.8.1 variant. Notably, two deaths due to Covid-19 on the basis of severe chronic diseases have been recorded.
According to statistics, in the past week, the city recorded 79 Covid-19 cases, nearly 3 times higher than the average of the previous 4 weeks with 27 cases. Accumulated from the beginning of 2025 to now, the whole city has had 204 cases, down 43 percent compared to the same period in 2024 with 355 cases.
Patients with severe progression are mainly those with underlying diseases
At the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City, six Covid-19 patients have been treated since the beginning of the year, all exhibiting mild symptoms. Just last week, the hospital admitted a 66-year-old woman undergoing chemotherapy for spinal pain. She had received two vaccine doses and had a prior Covid-19 infection in 2021. The patient experienced respiratory failure and required oxygen support but has since moved past the critical stage.
Elsewhere, general hospitals in the area have also reported cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection among patients being treated for other underlying conditions. People aged 60 and above accounted for 67 percent of all hospitalizations since the beginning of 2025. Since mid-April, three severe Covid-19 cases have been documented, two of them succumbed to death.
New variant NB.1.8.1 is reported in many countries
According to a report from the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases and the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU), variant NB.1.8.1 is dominant in gene sequencing samples from Covid-19 patients admitted to the hospital in the third week of May 2025.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the NB.1.8.1 variant—part of the Omicron lineage first identified in early 2025—has been detected in 23 countries, including Singapore, the United States, Australia, South Korea, Canada, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, and Thailand. It is currently contributing to a rise in Covid-19 cases across the Western Pacific region.
WHO has classified NB.1.8.1 as a Variant Under Monitoring (VUM). While there is no current evidence indicating increased disease severity, its potential to evade immune protection remains under close observation.
In response to these developments, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health has instructed the entire healthcare system—from prevention to treatment—to maintain a state of readiness. This includes ensuring the effective management of patient admission, emergency response, care, and treatment for Covid-19 cases, as well as the early detection of severe symptoms, prompt intervention, and efforts to minimize mortality.
At the same time, the health authority emphasizes the importance of a strategy to protect people in high-risk groups including the elderly, people with chronic underlying diseases, malignant diseases or immunodeficiency.
Medical workers from the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health recommended that people should not panic but need to fully implement epidemic prevention measures by wearing masks in public places, washing hands regularly, limit ing gatherings in crowded places and increasing nutrition and exercise.
Moreover, people of the high risk groups should limit going to crowded places, especially closed spaces; closely monitor their health, go to a medical facility as soon as they have suspicious symptoms. Caregivers and relatives of at-risk groups need to strictly implement disease prevention measures to avoid infection.
