VIENTIANE, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Laos' COVID-19 tally rose to 156,422 on Tuesday with 2,328 new cases registered in the past 24 hours, while the death toll swelled to 651, according to the Ministry of Health.
The National Taskforce Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control reported 2,306 locally transmitted cases and 22 new imported, Deputy Director General of the Department of Communicable Diseases Control under the Lao Ministry of Health, Sisavath Soutthaniraxay, told a press conference in the capital Vientiane on Tuesday.
Among the newly recorded community cases, 1,331 were detected in the capital.
Meanwhile, 22 imported cases were recorded, with 11 in Huaphan, seven in Xieng Khuang, two in the capital, one each in Savannakhet and Champasak province.
Sisavath urged residents across the country to continue to comply with COVID-19 prevention measures and get vaccinated.
Laos reported its first two confirmed cases of COVID-19 on March 24, 2020. ■