Of the total, 11,337 cases were detected in the community through random testing or test scanning. About 39 people tested positive upon arriving from overseas.
The MoH also added 18,642 recoveries and 226 fatalities to the national COVID-19 database.
The outbreak remains complicated in localities across three regions of the country, with most cases documented in the south.
Hanoi capital recorded the largest number of new cases during the past 24 hours, at 1,914, followed by Vinh Long, Ca Mau and Binh Phuoc that all registered more than 1,000 cases each.
Notably, the MoH confirmed an additional 14 Omicron cases in Quang Nam following the first case detected in Hanoi on December 27. The new patients had returned from the United States and the Republic of Korea.
The MoH immediately requested relevant agencies to expand epidemiological investigation, conduct contact tracing and testing to early detect and localize suspect cases in order to halt the new variant spreading to the wider community.
As of 06pm on December 31 Vietnam has detected 1,731,257 COVID-19 cases since the start of the first outbreak in January 2020, ranking 31st out of 223 countries and territories worldwide.
Of the infected patients, 1,355,286 have recovered from the disease, and 32,394 patients have died of the disease.
Nearly 151 million vaccine doses have been administered nationwide, with 68.4 million people getting their second shot and nearly 5 million people receiving their booster jab.
