HANOI, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam recorded 705 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, down by 251 from Friday, according to its Ministry of Health.

The newly reported infections brought the total tally to 10,759,850. The country reported one new death from the pandemic in the northern Thai Nguyen province on Saturday, bringing the total fatalities to 43,091.

As of Saturday, there were a total of 45 severe cases in need of assisted breathing recorded in the Southeast Asian country, according to the ministry.

Nationwide, 9,806,328 COVID-19 patients or over 91 percent of the total infections have so far recovered.

More than 238.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country, including over 209.1 million shots on people aged 18 and above, said the ministry.

Vietnam has already recorded COVID-19 infections with Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants and is accelerating the inoculation of its people with a fourth vaccine dose.