Since August 20, Ho Chi Minh City, the epicenter of Vietnam's ongoing Covid-19 wave, has recorded 150,000 positive cases via rapid antigen tests as part of its mass screening campaign.

Nguyen Van Vinh Chau, deputy director of the Health Department, said if the 150,000 people with positive Covid-19 rapid test results are to be confirmed, the mortality rate in the city would be lower instead of the 4 percent ratio as previously calculated.

"All of them have already been placed on the city’s list of Covid-19 patients for monitoring, caring and treating," he told the press Monday.

Responding to the city's request, the ministry said since the fourth wave, localities have been updating their infection data via an automatic system, which is the foundation for the ministry's daily Covid-19 releases.

The ministry had also issued instructions on August 20 to allow confirmation of Covid-19 infections via rapid tests, in case the patients are qualified to be isolated at home for treatment.

HCMC thus is responsible for reporting cases detected via rapid tests but it has not done so, it said.

The city's Health Department is responsible for the delay and the accuracy of its infection data, the ministry said in a statement.

Since the new wave hit Vietnam in late April, the health ministry has confirmed nearly 375,800 infections in HCMC, accounting for almost half of the national tally. The city has spent more than 100 days under various levels of social distancing.