VIETNAM NEWS HEADLINES AUGUST 16
14:56 Ho Chi
Minh City rolls out measures to control pandemic before September 15
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s largest
COVID-19 hot spot at present, is building a plan with the aim for pandemic
control before September 15 with two stages, Chairman of the municipal
People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong said on August 15. In the first
phase from August 15-31, the city is striving to minimise the fatality rate,
expand safe areas and control the pandemic in Can Gio, Nha Be, Cu Chi and Phu
Nhuan, and Districts 5, 7 and 11. During the
second from September 1-15, authorities will exert every effort to put the
pandemic under control, strive for a 20 percent reduction in the number of
fatalities and the number of cases in critical conditions, and over 70
percent of its population aged above 18 receiving the first infection and 15
percent given the second jab. To that end,
Phong requested stricter implementation of social distancing regulations,
closer management of quarantine sites and better protection of areas that
remain safe in face of the pandemic. The city
leader also urged relevant agencies to step up COVID-19 testing in specific
areas, as well as conducting vaccination in diverse forms. Regarding
treatment, the city will continue effectively providing care for patients at
home and at hospitals, stated Phong. The city
started to impose social distancing on July 9./. Hanoi authorities issue resolutions to support pandemic-hit
people The Hanoi
municipal People’s Council recently issued three resolutions to support
people in the city and help them overcome the difficulties caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic. Under a
Resolution No. 15/NQ-HDND, the municipal People’s Council approved aid
packaged worth VND345 billion for 10 groups of people in the city whose
livelihoods have been affected by COVID-19 pandemic. These groups
include poor and near-poor households; social welfare beneficiaries;
revolutionary contributors and wounded soldiers; employees who have had their
labour contracts suspended or have taken unpaid leave, employees who have had
their labour contracts terminated; owners of private kindergartens who had to
stop working for at least 15 days due to COVID-19 from May 1-December 31,
2021; and pregnant employees, among others. In
Resolution No. 16/NQ-HDND, the municipal People’s Council implemented a 15%
price cut in water bills of local households in the last four months of this
year. In addition,
the city will cover 100% water bills for local concentrated quarantined areas
and treatment facilities for infected and suspected COVID-19 patients, poor
and near-poor households. The city
authorities have also decided to cover expenses for funeral services for
deceased COVID-19 patients under Resolution No. 17/NQ-HDND. Population database to help manage COVID-19 vaccinations The Ministry
of Public Security (MPS) will share data from the National Population
Database to help manage COVID-19 vaccinations. The database
will be shared with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Information
and Communications. Last week,
the MPS officially deployed the nationwide citizen management software in
pandemic-affected areas on the basis of the National Population Database. The
software is updated with medical declarations when people pass pandemic
control stations. Specifically,
when citizens register medical declarations at
https://suckhoe.dancuquocgia.gov.vn before going through pandemic control
stations, the system will provide them with a QR code. At the
checkpoints, police officers will check information on the system and let
them go through. Data is
processed on the National Population Database, then communicated to ward and
commune authorities in order to manage their information, thereby tracing the
movements of citizens easily, quickly and accurately, saving costs in the
current pandemic situation. At a meeting
on August 12 with the MPS, Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long emphasised
that the people's public security force performs resident management. The force
played a key role in tracing COVID-19 cases, while controlling the movement
of people and vehicles, he said. Therefore,
information management on the basis of the National Population Database and
QR codes was suitable for the actual situation, ensuring accuracy,
contributing to the prevention and control of COVID-19. Long proposed
the MPS to unify the medical declaration form and use a unique QR code for
each individual, avoiding confusion, simplifying procedures, saving time, and
facilitating people in the medical declarations. Speaking at
the meeting, Deputy Minister of Public Security Nguyen Duy Ngoc asked the
Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Information and Communications to
support and share experience in health management and vaccination databases. Ngoc said
the two ministries should provide professional and technical support so that
the MPS can quickly use national data on population in the work of tracing
COVID-19 cases, verifying citizen information for vaccination management,
contributing to the pandemic control./. Painting and writing contest for child patients launched A painting
and writing contest for child patients aged 4-16 nationwide has been launched
in HCM City. Vì Một Việt
Nam Tất Thắng (For A Victory to Việt Nam) was organised by Foreign
Trade University and Hope Foundation, a non-government organisation, to
give the highest chance of survival to children with cancer across Việt
Nam. The contest
categories include painting, poetry, short stories, essays and
letters, reflecting hope for a brighter future and conveying messages of
love to frontline workers and doctors fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic. Contestants
can send multiple entries to the contest to Foreign Trade
University - 91 Chùa Láng Street, Đống Đa District, Hà Nội, or via
email VietNamtatthang@ftu.edu.vn by September 10. The
organisers have invited singer and music producer Hà Anh Tuấn to be the
contest’s ambassador. Tuấn, who
has made great contributions to the COVID-19 fight, said: “While all
people across Việt Nam have faced great challenges these days, paintings
and literary works by children who are brave in their fight against
cancer and incurable diseases will represent our gratitude to frontline
forces who are devoting their life protecting all of us. “These works
will also send wishes to all Vietnamese people that the country will
soon become peaceful after the pandemic,” said the 37-year-old singer. Tuấn, a
graduate of Technische Universitat Darmstadt in Hessen, Germany, rose to fame
in the Sao Mai – Rendezvous TV singing contest in 2006. He has
released seven albums, including Acous’84, a production of nine R&B
songs which helped the singer bring home the Golden Album of the Year
presented by HCM City Television in 2010. He
works as a music producer for See Sing Share, which won Show of the Year
and Music Series of the Year at the Cống Hiến (Devotion) Music
Awards in 2019. The show has
had four seasons over the last six years, with a total of 40 music videos
featuring Tuấn’s signature ballads and R&B songs which have been hits
among Vietnamese youth for a decade, and favourite songs by other singers.
His videos have attracted hundreds of millions of views. Since the
pandemic’s outbreak in Việt Nam last year, Tuấn and his friends have
donated medical equipment and supplies, food, and essential items worth tens
of billion đồng to hospitals, frontline forces and COVID-affected
people. The
organisers will present a total of 12 top prizes and dozens of consolation
prizes worth more than VNĐ100 million (US$4,360). The winners
will be announced in November. HCM City cranks up assistance programmes to reassure
asymptomatic COVID patients in home quarantine
With an
increasing number of asymptomatic COVID-19 patients isolating themselves at
home in HCM City, healthcare agencies are providing free medical consultancy
through hotlines and Zalo groups, and oxygen cylinders and concentrators in
case of emergencies. HCM City was the first
locality in Việt Nam to allow asymptomatic patients with a low viral
load, no underlying disease or obesity, and stable underlying
medical conditions to quarantine at home. This helps reduce the
overload at medical facilities, according to the city Department of
Health. Local health officials
monitor them every day. When they start to have
symptoms such as temperature of above 38 degrees Celsius, sore throat,
diarrhoea, loss of taste, or shortness of breath, they can call 1022,
extensions 3 and 4, to get advice from doctors at the HCM City Medical
Association, the city Centre for Diseases Control and Prevention, hospitals,
or the Thầy thuốc đồng hành network of physicians. “I am experiencing shortness
of breath. Has my condition worsened?” was a question a patient asked at
1022, Assoc. Prof. Dr Nguyễn Thị Bay of the HCM City University of Medicine
and Pharmacy, one of the doctors on 1022, said. “After hearing a patient say
that, I told her to lie down and place a hand on her abdomen to count the
number of times it rises and falls in one minute. “More than 20 breaths per
minute would be worrisome. “The patient was reassured
with the clear explanations about her health status and instructions on what
she should do next.” Through calls from
asymptomatic patients at home and their relatives, she has realised that many
of them are anxious and fearful, and timely consultation by a doctor is
imperative. The doctors providing
consultancy on the hotline have also been asked many questions about
vaccination such as side effects and ambulances to transport them to
designated hospitals after their condition worsened. In the case of the latter,
doctors also guide patients’ relatives about emergency aid for patients while
waiting for the ambulance besides sending patients’ information to the
Department of Health and other relevant agencies for assistance with
transporting to and admission at designated hospitals. The hotline 1022
is available 24 hours a day.The
Department of Health has collaborated with the Thầy thuốc đồng
hành network of physicians to set up one more hotline at 093.95.96.999
for COVID patients and those who suspect they have contracted it and are
isolated at home. The consultancy is provided
by health centres in all 22 districts and Thủ Đức City in co-operation with
the Thầy thuốc đồng hành network of physicians. It also helps classify
high-risk groups who need to be hospitalised for treatment by sending their
information to community-based COVID teams, task forces in districts, wards
and communes and the 115 Emergency Aid Centre. If a person takes more than
30 breaths per minute and their peripheral oxygen saturation is less than 95
per cent, they should call 115 or commune, ward or districts task force for
emergency aid and transportation to hospitals. Dr Trương Hữu Khanh, former
head of the infectious and nervous diseases department at the city’s
Paediatrics Hospital No 1, has a Facebook fanpage and Zalo group for patients
and their relatives, and his consultancy has guided helped many
patients’ families. In Tân Bình District’s Ward
5, the local health centre and Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union have
also set up a similar Zalo group. Trương Nguyễn Phong,
secretary of the ward youth union, said free oxygen cylinders and concentrators
would be provided to COVID patients at home whose condition becomes worse and
need life support while waiting for transportation to hospital. The union has 10 cylinders
and three concentrators, all small and easily taken to homes of patients living
in alleys, he said. The youth union’s 17 members
are available 24 hours a day to take them to patients’ houses, he said.
Nguyễn Lê Trung Hiếu,
chairman of the Bình Tân District unit of the Việt Nam Youth Federation, said
members of the federation and district youth union are providing free oxygen
cylinders to patients at home under a programme called Oxygen ATM carried out
in co-operation with the Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs Association and PHG
Smart home. To get oxygen cylinders for
patients quarantined at home, people need to contact 08.1934.1900 or phone
numbers or the Facebook fanpage of the federation at districts and wards. Lại Đình Hoàng, chairman of
the Việt Nam Youth Federation in the district’s Bình Trị Đông A ward, said he
got information about a senior couple with COVID needing oxygen because one
of them got an asthma attack. They did not have a flow
regulator available, and so he rode to many medical stores around the ward to
buy one, he said. “We young people want to
contribute as volunteers to assist people living in locked-down
areas, with contact tracing, taking samples, vaccinating, and other tasks.” Late writer's fiction books about women
issues released Vietnamese women
and family values are the themes of six books by late author and journalist
Bà Tùng Long issued by the Trẻ (Youth) Publishing House. Long was a
leading female writer in South Việt Nam in the 1960s-70s. She wrote
more than 400 short stories and 68 novels. Her works describe the
culture and lifestyle of urban areas in the southern region. The books
include Tình Yêu Và Hận Thù (Love and Revenge), Hồng Nhan Đa
Truân (Beautiful Women are Unlucky in Love), Nghĩa Tình Ràng
Buộc (Love Ties), Người Của Oán Thù (A Woman’s
Revenge), Một Thoáng Mây Bay (A Moment) and Hành Trang Vào
Đời (The Luggage for Life ). The
stories were published in magazines before 1975 and were discovered
by the writer’s son, author Nguyễn Đông Thức. The
publication celebrates the writer’s 106th birthday anniversary. All of the
publications feature Vietnamese culture, southern women and their
lifestyle. “My mother Bà
Tùng Long’s works encourage women to live with self-confidence and
self-belief. Her views about love, women and family issues are
still fresh today,” said Thức. In 2019, Trẻ
Publishing House reprinted a series of seven books on women by
Long. They have received a warm response from readers. “Female
readers, particularly young girls, can learn many things from the female
characters in writer Long’s books,” Nguyễn Bảo Trân of HCM
City, a fan of Long's, said. Trân began
reading Long when she was in high school in the 1980s. She is now a
mother of two teenage daughters. Bà Tùng
Long, whose real name is Lê Thị Bạch Vân, was born in Đà Nẵng in 1915. She worked
as a teacher of Vietnamese and French literature at schools in Hội
An, such as Les Lauries, Tân Thịnh and Đạt Đức. She began
her writing career in 1952 after her short stories were printed in
newspapers. She wrote a column on women for the daily newspaper Sài
Gòn Mới (New Sài Gòn). After 1954,
she moved to live in Sài Gòn (now Hồ Chí Minh City). She wrote for
several leading newspapers and magazines, including Miền Nam (The
South), Phụ Nữ Diễn Đàn (Female Forum), Tiếng
Vang (Echo), Phụ Nữ Ngày Mai ( Future Women) and Nhân
Loại (Mankind). During the
1960s, writing under her pen name Bà Tùng Long, she was popular in the
region’s literature with her works featuring women and women's rights. Many of
her works highlight Sài Gòn and its culture, local people and
their daily life. Long
died in HCM City in 2006. Vietnam among the friendliest countries on Earth
A friendly
attitude with a positive view on strangers and people of other cultures has
helped Vietnam to reach the top ten. Portugal topped the list. Experts
believe that this rank will become one of the favourable factors for tourists
to choose Vietnam for their post-COVID-19 experience, thus helping the
country’s non-smoke industry revive./. Detailed plan issued to promote reading culture during 2021-2025 The Ministry
of Information and Communications has issued a plan aimed at promoting
reading culture in the community during the 2021-2025 period. The plan
targets to improve the quality of reading culture development activities in
order to achieve the goals set out in the Project on Developing reading
culture in the community by 2020, with a vision to 2030, to spread reading
culture strongly in the community, while synchronously implementing the tasks
formulated in the project in the direction of socialisation. The plan
also requires to develop the reading movement, towards building a learning
society and raising public awareness about the great significance and
importance of reading for research, education and the formation of human
personality. It also aims
to associate the development of reading culture with the implementation of
the master plan on the network of publishing, printing and distribution
establishments, in associated with the promotion of digital transformation. Specifically,
the plan focuses on perfecting institutions for the development of the
network of press, radio and television establishments, amending the 2012 Law
on Publishing and development of guiding documents during 2022-2024, and
improving the quality of publishing activities. It targets
to develop and implement the National Book Programme Scheme to submit to the
Government for promulgation in the 2021-2025 period, the project on
developing a publication distribution network on the infrastructure of the
postal system for implementation in 2022, establish a fund to support
publishing in the form of socialisation, a project on digital transformation
of publishing, printing and distribution industries implemented in 2021, and
a social network connecting readers, book makers and authors to be
implemented in 2023. In addition,
the plan also aims to promote communications, promotion and international
cooperation in publishing, printing and distribution activities. HCMC residents get over 85,000 doses of Vero Cell vaccine The
Department of Health of Ho Chi Minh City informed that 85,608 people in Ho
Chi Minh City got vaccinated with Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine (Vero
Cell) on August 14. The
injection process was safe in compliance with the Covid-19 pandemic
prevention and control regulations. Phu Nhuan
and Can Gio districts have completed the first routine doses of vaccination
schedule for adults aged above 18 years. From July 22
to August 13, HCMC performed vaccination for 3,490,295 people and almost them
are in stable health. On the same
day, Go Vap District also implemented a vaccination campaign at Covid-19
vaccination points. Up to now, the district has administered over 2,000 doses
of the Vero Cell vaccine. A
representative of the Go Vap District Medical Center said that apart from six
current Covid-19 vaccination points, there are newly-formed vaccination
points in wards 5, 12, 14 in the district and more specialized vehicles for
mobile vaccination have served for the elderly and people facing
transportation difficulties. HCMC mobilizes school medical workers in fight against Covid-19
in districts The
Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City has just sent a
document to the Department of Education and Training of Thu Duc City and 21
districts, principals of high schools, and high schools on the mobilization
of school medical staff to participate in the Covid-19 epidemic prevention
and control. Following
the proposal of the Coordination Team of human resources to serve the
prevention and control of Covid-19 in the southern city, the Department of
Education and Training said that the current situation of the Covid-19
epidemic in the city is becoming more and more complicated, so it is
necessary to call up medical forces in schools to join in the prevention and
control of the epidemic. Therefore,
the municipal Department of Education and Training requested heads of
educational institutions and medical staff to participate in supporting
epidemic prevention and control in the area at the request of people's
committees in Thu Duc City and districts. In addition,
in order to ensure the effective cleaning and disinfection of epidemic
prevention and control, for environment protection and human health without
wasting chemicals, the City Department of Education and Training proposed
principals in schools not spray chemicals to kill the SARS-CoV-2 virus in
outdoor areas. Furthermore,
schools should not apply the method of spraying chemicals and germicidal
preparations on people in any situation, including the method of using
chemical sprayers directly on people or using chemical spray disinfection
chambers. Spraying
disinfectant is only applied in a narrow area with Covid-19 patients
according to the guidance of the Ministry of Health. HCM City vaccinates 4.3 million people against COVID HCM City
vaccinated more than 93,900 people against COVID-19 on
Friday, according to its Department of Health. Deputy chairman
of the city People’s Committee, Dương Anh Đức, said all
vaccines allotted by the Ministry of Health have been used
up as of August 12, and it has started to administer the one
million doses of Sinopharm's Vero Cell vaccine since Friday. The vaccines
were imported by the State-owned Saigon Pharmaceutical Group. So far
around 4.3 million people in the city have been inoculated, Đức said. The
city targets immunising everyone aged 18 and above, which adds
up to seven million people, by month end, he said. Secretary of
the city Party Committee, Nguyễn Văn Nên, who on Friday inspected a
vaccination camp at Nguyễn An Khương Secondary School in the city’s
Hóc Môn District along with Đức, said people must be clearly informed what
vaccine they would get and their consent must be received. Vaccination
is key to curbing the pandemic and enabling a return to normal
life, he added. Population database to help manage COVID-19 vaccinations The Ministry
of Public Security (MPS) will share data from the National Population
Database to help manage COVID-19 vaccinations. The database
will be shared with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Information
and Communications. From
Wednesday, the MPS officially deployed the nationwide citizen management
software in pandemic-affected areas on the basis of the National Population
Database. The software is updated with medical declarations when people pass
pandemic control stations. Specifically,
when citizens register medical declarations
at https://suckhoe.dancuquocgia.gov.vn before going through
pandemic control stations, the system will provide them with a QR code. At the
checkpoints, police officers will check information on the system and let
them go through. Data is
processed on the National Population Database, then communicated to ward and
commune authorities in order to manage their information, thereby tracing the
movements of citizens easily, quickly and accurately, saving costs in the
current pandemic situation. At the
meeting on Thursday with the MPS, Minister of Health Nguyễn Thanh Long
emphasised that the People's Public Security force performs resident
management. The force
played a key role in tracing COVID-19 cases, while controlling the
movement of people and vehicles, he said. Therefore,
information management on the basis of the National Population Database and
QR codes was suitable for the actual situation, ensuring accuracy,
contributing to the prevention and control of COVID-19. Long
proposed the MPS to unify the medical declaration form and use a unique QR
code for each individual, avoiding confusion, simplifying procedures, saving
time, and facilitating people in the medical declarations. Speaking at
the meeting, Deputy Minister of Public Security Nguyễn Duy Ngọc asked the
Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Information and Communications to
support and share experience in health management and vaccination
databases. Ngọc said
the two ministries should provide professional and technical support so that
the MPS can quickly use national data on population in the work of tracing
COVID-19 cases, verifying citizen information for vaccination management,
contributing to the pandemic control. Health ministry to trial home-based treatment for COVID patients
in HCM City The Ministry
of Health plans to pilot an initiative to have COVID-19 patients treated at
home with medicines, health supplements and care instructions in HCM City
from August 16 at a time when COVID-19 treatment facilities are becoming
overwhelmed. Tests will
be carried out at home and in the community and medicines and health
supplements will be provided to patients and closely monitored by medical
experts. Food and
groceries will be provided to households with patients since their family
members will not be allowed to step out. The ministry
will provide detailed guidelines for taking care of patients, monitoring
their health and seeking medical assistance if their condition worsens. Helping
COVID patients at home access medical care in time, thus reducing the burden
on treatment facilities and fatality rates is of utmost importance, according
to the ministry. Minister of
Health Nguyễn Thanh Long said home care would reduce the chance of pandemic
spread. HCM City has
been trialling a programme to have asymptomatic patients quarantining at home
since mid-July. Phan Văn
Mãi, deputy secretary of the city Party Committee, said medical facilities’
capacity has already been exceeded though the pandemic situation remains
dire. There is
also a need for 12,000 more doctors and nurses to treat symptomatic patients
with underlying medical conditions. The city is
focusing on reducing the death rate in the next 30 days. The ministry
has updated its treatment regime based on global case studies and the
pandemic situation, which indicates that nearly 80 per cent of patients have
few or no symptoms. After piloting
it in HCM City, the ministry will consider expanding it to the rest of the
country. According to
the HCM City Centre for Disease Control, as of Saturday there were more than
35,000 COVID-positive people quarantined and monitored at home, and another
13,000 in quarantine facilities. The city is
the country’s pandemic epicentre with more than 144,000 cases by 6pm,
Saturday. HCM City needs more medical personnel at hospitals
treating COVID-19 patients More medical
personnel from other provinces are being deployed in HCM City, Việt
Nam’s COVID-19 epicentre, as the burden on hospitals worsens and as
the city considers paying recovered COVID-19 patients, who have high
natural immunity, to help with prevention and control activities. The
city is in need of 12,000 more personnel, including doctors and nurses
who can treat symptomatic patients with underlying medical conditions from
the second to fifth levels. Medical staff skilled in resuscitation and
intensive care are especially needed. Many
hospitals are struggling to care for more COVID-19
patients. The COVID-19 Resuscitation Hospital set up in Thủ Đức
City, which has admitted over 1,000 severely and critically ill COVID-19
patients, is in dire need of more medical personnel since the number of
patients admitted has exceeded its capacity. Trần Thanh
Linh, deputy head of Chợ Rẫy Hospital's intensive care unit and deputy
director of COVID-19 Resuscitation Hospital, said the latter was
designed to have 500 beds for its first phase, but currently it is already treating
around 600 patients. It has been
receiving personnel from Chợ Rẫy Hospital and is working on improving
its treatment capacity to 700 hospital beds. While
medical equipment there is still able to satisfy demand, more machinery
and medicines will be needed in the future, he said. Sixteen
field hospitals have been established to treat the rising number of F0
(infected) cases. The Phú Nhuận COVID-19 No. 1 Field Hospital, for
example, was put into service on August 12 in Phú Nhuận District. The hospital treats
second and third-level patients according to the city’s five-level
admission and treatment plan for COVID-19 patients. The patients at the
hospital include symptomatic cases with underlying medical
conditions who may become moderately or severely ill. With 350
beds, including 60 beds for resuscitation, and a wide variety of medical
equipment, it aims to reduce the number of worsening F0 cases who
need to be transferred to hospitals for specialised medical
intervention, alleviating stress on such facilities. The field
hospital currently has 65 medical staff treating more than 20 patients. Dr. Tăng Chí
Thượng, deputy director of HCM City’s Department of Health, said
that city districts must be proactive in finding,
admitting and monitoring local F0 cases. According to
the HCM City Centre for Disease Control, the city has nearly 58,000 medical
staff and 20,000 personnel involved in the fight against COVID-19. More than
4,000 personnel are from central hospitals and other hospitals
in provinces and cities, and there are tens of thousands of volunteers. Help from
recovered patients Chairman of
HCM City People’s Committee Nguyễn Thành Phong has asked the Health
Department to suggest payment policies for recovered COVID-19 patients who
could help the city in COVID prevention and control activities. The city has
a total of 65,135 COVID-19 patients who have been discharged from
hospitals since January. Vice
Director of the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases Nguyễn
Trung Cấp told Vietnam News Agency that most people who
have recovered from COVID-19 are likely to be immune for several months
afterwards. One study concluded that immune responses from past infections
reduced the risk of reinfection by 83 per cent for at least five months. However,
even though the COVID-19 reinfection rate is low, it is still
possible, so people recovering from COVID-19 must take preventive
measures and get vaccinated as soon as possible, Cấp said. Phong has
also asked city departments to conduct a survey on human resources
and medicine at designated hospitals and, based on the
results, make decisions about the best use of staff, medicine and
transfer of COVID-19 patients. The city
also asked the Ministry of National Defence and the Government’s
special task force to add more doctors and nurses
to field hospitals and COVID-19 treatment hospitals, and increase
contact tracing, testing, and the number of vaccination sites. Border gate pair of Vietnam and Laos inaugurated A pair of
border gates - Nam Giang in Vietnam's central province of Quang Nam, and Dac
Ta Ooc in Laos' Se Kong province - were officially inaugurated on August 14. The opening
of the Nam Giang-Dac Ta Ooc border gate pair is believed to contribute to
further developing the border gate system between both sides, along with
opening up fresh co-operation opportunities. These
benefits will be seen in the field of economy, trade, investment, and tourism
between the key economic regions in central Vietnam, along with other
localities of neighouring countries of Laos and Thailand. Furthermore,
the two border gates will help draw additional international investors,
thereby supporting the development of the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC),
as well as promoting the connection and formation process of ASEAN community. The opening
of the two border gates also represents an important political event
regarding Quang Nam and Se Kong's joint efforts to reinforce the great
friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam
and Laos as well as between the two provinces. To mark the
occasion, the Vietnamese Government donated a total of 100 tonnes of rice to
local people in Se Kong province to help them ensure food stability amid the
negative impact of COVID-19 pandemic. In return,
Se Kong province also gifted KIP100,000 to Quang Nam province as a
contribution to COVID-19 prevention and control. Hanoi allocates additional support worth VND345 billion to
pandemic-hit groups Around
324,000 people affected by COVID-19 are expected to receive special policy
supports from the Hanoi government, with a total estimated budget of over
VND345 billion. In order to
promptly support those affected and facing difficulties due to the epidemic,
the Hanoi Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has reviewed and
submitted a report to Hanoi municipal People's Committee on supplementing
policies to support those facing difficulties due to the pandemic. The city
authorities have agreed to issue a resolution stipulating specific policies
for 10 groups, who have not received support from Resolution 68/NQ- CP,
Decision No. 23/2021/TTg and Decision No. 3642/QD-UBND yet. The 10
groups of beneficiaries are poor households, near-poor households, social
protection beneficiaries, people with meritorious services to the revolution,
and employees with suspended labour contracts or who have taken unpaid leave
due to operations being suspended at the request of the competent agencies to
prevent and control the epidemic. On August
14, the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) chapter of Ba Dinh district in Hanoi
coordinated with the Military Command of Ba Dinh district to launch a zero
dong market, offering free essentials to local people and workers in
difficulty in Phuc Xa ward, Ba Dinh district. The programme will take place
over three days. On the same
day, the VFF chapter of Ho Chi Minh City held a ceremony to receive 100
high-end ventilators, worth VND 30 billion, donated by Sovico Group and
HDBank, to support the prevention and control of COVID-19 in the city. A day
before, the chapter also received a medical equipment package worth over
VND4.1 billion and VND400 million in cash from DKSH Vietnam Co., Ltd.
Immediately afterwards, the medical equipment was transferred to local hospitals
and medical centres across the city to promptly serve in the treatment of
COVID-19 patients. Also on
August 14, Can Tho city authorities received VND5 billion in support of its
COVID-19 fight from Sacombank and 6,000 COVID-19 rapid test kits from the GO
supermarket system. Up to now, Can Tho has received about VND28.6 billion in
support of its epidemic prevention and control activities, as well as medical
supplies and equipment worth about VND24.7 billion. HCMC asks for reopening plans of traditional markets The People’s
Committee of HCMC has asked people’s committees of districts and Thu Duc City
to prepare plans for the reopening of traditional markets. The
municipal Department of Trade and Industry has been delegated to instruct and
monitor the people’s committees to make surveys on the current situation and
assess the risks of novel coronavirus outbreak in the localities to build
plans for the market reopening, or organize selling locations of food and
essential goods at markets that have been forced to temporarily close. Thu Duc City
and districts must register the deadlines for the planning process with the
Department of Trade and Industry. The
healthcare units have to coordinate with the management boards of markets to
implement random testing in markets, periodically clean and disinfect selling
sites. Nearly 309 million USD donated to COVID-19 fight so far: VFF The Vietnam
Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee has received over 7.02 trillion VND
(308.8 million USD) in donations to help with the national COVID-19 relief
efforts since May 1, Vice Chairman and Secretary-General Le Tien Chau said at
an event on August 13. Of the
total, over 1.03 trillion VND has been transferred to the COVID-19 vaccine
fund while 90 billion VND has been sent to the Ministries of National Defence
and Foreign Affairs, and hospitals across the country to aid their COVID-19
response activities, Chau said. Some 51
billion VND has been provided to 17 cities and provinces under social
distancing orders to help deliver about 1.7 million free meals to needy
people, he added. Over 2
trillion VND has been distributed by local VFF chapters to fund COVID-19
fight. On the same
day, Vietnamese automaker THACO presented nine trucks for mobile COVID-19
vaccination to Phu Tho, Yen Bai, Lao Cai, Tuyen Quang, Vinh Phuc, Ha Giang,
Son La, Lai Chau and Dien Bien to help these northern mountainous provinces
inoculate people living in remote areas./. Vietnamese people assists African countries in COVID-19 combat The
Vietnamese Embassy in South Africa presented 100,000 face masks to the
representative missions of Namibia and Botswana in Pretoria on August 13 to
help people in the latter countries cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Talking to
the ambassador of Namibia and the chargé d’affaires of Botswana, Vietnamese
Ambassador Hoang Van Loi said the face masks were donated by Vietnamese
people in South Africa to help people in the countries that his embassy is in
charge of to fight COVID-19. Mentioning
the pandemic situation in Vietnam, he said the Government views the COVID-19
combat as the most urgent task at present, and that Vietnam always gives the
top priority to people’s health and lives. He also
shared Vietnam’s experiences in pandemic prevention and control and discussed
the countries’ cooperation chances with the other diplomats. Namibian
Ambassador to South Africa Veiccoh K. Nghiwete appreciated the support,
described it as a demonstration of the friendship, fraternity, and solidarity
between the peoples of Vietnam and his country. For her
part, Chargé d’Affaires of Botswana Tiny Mothobi also expressed thanks to the
Vietnamese people, noting that the face masks will be sent to her homeland as
soon as possible. As of August
13, Botswana with a population of over 2.4 million recorded 136,758 cases of
COVID-19, including 1,973 deaths. With nearly 2.6 million people, Namibia saw
122,097 infections, 3,262 of whom succumbed to the disease, data show. Earlier, the
Vietnamese embassy in South Africa also presented face masks to the
representative agency of Eswatini and contacted those of Lesotho and Zimbabwe
in order to give them with 50,000 masks each. The embassy
has also sent delegations to hand over face masks to schools in Pretoria, and
plans to continue the mask presentation programme in other localities like
Eastern Cape and Northern Cape provinces as suggested by the South African
Department of International Relations and Cooperation./. Czech media hails Vietnam’s stance on settlement of maritime
security issues The Czech
media has published several articles responding positively to the Vietnamese
Prime Minister’s speech at the recent United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
high-level open debate on maritime security, and hailing the country’s role
in helping to ensure maritime security. In its
article posted on August 12, the e-newspaper halonoviny.cz stressed that as a
coastal country, Vietnam has been making efforts to help protect and enhance
maritime security. It cited PM
Pham Minh Chinh's speech at the UNSC debate, which put forth proposals aimed
to help resolve challenges to maritime security, especially the need for the
international community to improve the awareness of the importance of seas
and the threats to maritime security. The article
also quoted the PM's as saying that maritime security is a global issue that
cannot be handled by a single country, and cooperation among nations is
necessary to effectively respond to common security challenges, and that
Vietnam is ready to work with countries in the region and the world to deal
with maritime security issues, thereby actively helping to maintain peace and
promote regional and global sustainable development. According to
the author, the PM’s remarks reflects Vietnam’s support of the settlement of
maritime security issues by peaceful means on the basis of international law
and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in order to
guarantee the freedom of navigation and overflight in international sea
areas, for the sake of regional and international peace, stability, and
development. The
parlamentnilisty.cz website also welcomed Vietnam’s policy of peacefully
handling the East Sea issue on the basis of international law and the 1982
UNCLOS, objecting to unilateral actions that infringe international law in
the waters, and affirming the value of the UNCLOS and the rulings issued in
2016 by the Permanent Court of Arbitration. It wrote
that Vietnam’s viewpoint highlighted by PM Chinh at the debate received
support from the European Union and European countries. The writing
also pointed out that China’s unilateral actions such as building artificial
islands and conducting militarisation in the East Sea, or its intimidation
and coercion to hamper ASEAN countries’ legal economic activities in the sea
areas under their sovereignty and jurisdiction in the East Sea have run
counter to international law and the UNCLOS, to which China is also a
signatory. China’s
recent military drills in the vicinity of Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel)
archipelago have violated Vietnam’s sovereignty, run counter to the spirit of
the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), complicated
the situation, and negatively affected regional and global peace and
stability, the article said. It added the
East Sea is an important international shipping route, and that the EU and
European countries support the viewpoint of settling the East Sea issue by
peaceful measures on the basis of international law and the UNCLOS./. Over 5,500 Covid-19 patients recover Vietnam
confirmed 9,580 more Covid-19 infections on Sunday and 5,519 patients
recovered from the disease, according to the Ministry of Health. According to
the ministry's report, 9,574 of the newly-confirmed patients are
locally-transmitted cases most of whom were detected in quarantine sites or
areas under lockdown in some localities such as Ho Chi Minh City (4,516
cases), Binh Duong (2,358), Dong Nai (546), Long An (514), Dong Thap (271),
Tien Giang (209), Can Tho (170), Khanh Hoa (166), Tay Ninh (159), Danang
(83), Soc Trang (82). Among these new infections, 2,470 cases were found in
the community. There were six imported patients recorded. Ho Chi Minh
City continued to report the highest number of new infections in the country.
On Saturday, the city also recorded 4,231 new patients, the majority of which
are individuals who came into contact with confirmed Covid-19 patients or who
were detected in either isolation and locked down areas. Social distancing
rules are being further tightened in the city to contain the spread of the
virus. The government has set a target for HCM City to contain its Covid-19
outbreak by September 15. As of Sunday
evening, 271,037 locally-transmitted cases have been reported since the new
outbreak occurred in the country on April 27, including 149,286 in the virus
hotspot of Ho Chi Minh City. The outbreak has so far spread to 62 cities and
provinces nationwide. With these
new infection cases, the number of Covid-19 patients in Vietnam has increased
to 275,044. The country stands 78th among 222 countries and territories
worldwide in the number of infections. On August
15, a total of 5,519 more patients were released from hospital following
their full recovery, raising the number of recoveries in the country to
102,504. Also on
Sunday evening, a further 337 deaths related to Covid-19 were announced,
bringing the total number of fatalities in Vietnam to 5,774. The deaths were
reported in HCM City (282), Binh Duong (20), Long An (9), Tien Giang (6),
Dong Nai (5), Ba Ria - Vung Tau (3), Dong Thap (2), Soc Trang (2), Tra Vinh
(2), Can Tho (1), Hai Phong (1), Ben Tre (1), Binh Phuoc (1), Khanh Hoa (1),
and Quang Nam (1). The country
has so far conducted over 14.43 million Covid-19 vaccine shots, with over
1.35 million people having received two doses. HCMC to begin trial of home-based care program on August 16 HCMC will
begin trialing the home-based care program monitoring the home and community
based treatment of Covid-19 patients from August 16 to minimize fatality and
limit the spread of Covid-19. Localities
have been asked to adopt the Covid-19 treatment model featuring “three on the
spot” measure, including testing, treatment and daily routine on-site by the
Ministry of Health. The
home-based care program includes three main activities, including home and
community-based testing; providing box of drugs and health support products,
health management consulting in prevention and control of Covid-19; offering
food packages for those affected by coronavirus and their families.Voluntary
participant will receive an informed consent form and be monitored health
status and drug use through an electronic patient diary. A
comprehensive assessment of health facilities will be carried out from August
16-22 to ensure the safe implementation of the program. The Ministry
of Health has approved the promising antiviral drug called Molnupiravir to
treat Covid-19 in the program. The ministry has also called on busineses to
contact and negotiate with partners about import the drugs and production technology
transfer. Sympathies to Haiti over earthquake Prime
Minister Pham Minh Chinh on August 15 extended his sympathies to Haiti Prime
Minister Ariel Henry over the losses of human lives and property due to the
recent earthquake in the country. The 7.2
earthquake shocked Haiti on August 14, leaving in 304 dead and 1,800 others
injured. Its centre was about 12 kilometers northeast of Saint-Louis-du-Sud
and 10 kilometers deep, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). There are
reports of significant damage to homes, roads, and infrastructure. PM requests better preservation of President Ho Chi Minh's
Mausoleum Prime
Minister Pham Minh Chinh on August 14 asked the Management Board of President
Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum to continue well preserving the construction and the
embalmed body of the late leader. The PM said
the mausoleum is a special historical and cultural work of the capital city,
stressing that it is a great honour for the unit to do the work. On the
occasion of the 45th anniversary of the establishment of the management
board, he congratulated and hailed the achievements gained by the management
board over the past. He expressed
his hope that officers, soldiers and units of the management board will
continue promoting the tradition and well fulfill tasks assigned by the
Party, State and people. The
mausoleum holds special political, cultural significance for the
revolutionary cause of the Party, State and people. It is also a sacred image
and special symbol with practical value for educating each Vietnamese citizen
about morality and lifestyle. With such
meaning, the task of ensuring the absolute safety of President Ho Chi Minh’s
body and upholding the mausoleum’s political-cultural significance is not
only the responsibility of the entire Party, people and armed forces, but
also demonstrates loyalty and steadfastness to the revolutionary path chosen
by the Party and President Ho Chi Minh./. Greetings to India on 75th Independence Day Vietnamese
leaders on August 15 extended greetings to their Indian counterparts on the
75th Independence Day (August 15, 1947 - 2021) of the country. State
President Nguyen Xuan Phuc sent his message of greetings to Indian President
Ram Nath Kovind, while Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh did the same to his
Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. On the same
day, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son sent his greetings to Minister
of External Affairs of India Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. Vietnam and
India set up diplomatic ties in 1972 and elevated the relations to strategic
partnership in 2007./. Kien Giang works to ensure locals’ health as Phu Quoc to be open
to foreign tourists The People’s
Committee of the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang has drafted a plan on
tourism recovery and development, along with procedures to welcome foreign
tourists while protecting residents’ health. The Ministry
of Culture, Sports and Tourism is collecting opinions from other ministries
and sectors on the pilot plan to open the province’s island city of Phu Quoc
to foreign visitors from October. The plan
will be carried out on the island upon the issuance of procedures on
receiving foreign visitors, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s
Committee Nguyen Luu Trung said. Under the
plan, Phu Quoc will receive up to 3,000 travellers per month who will arrive
with charter flights and be served in designated locations. The number is set
to rise up to 10,000 by the subsequent three months through commercial
flights, with additional tourist destinations being opened. Kien Giang
works to ensure locals’ health as Phu Quoc to be open to foreign tourists
hinh anh 2 Visitors are
advised to install contact tracing and health declaration apps and must test
negative to COVID-19 72 hours prior to their arrival. Phu Quoc is
home to 150,436 residents, with 127,607 people aged from 18 and 65. Of them,
about 60,000 are working in the tourism industry and eligible for joining the
pilot plan. Local
authorities have launched an inoculation drive with an aim to have 95 percent
of the eligible fully vaccinated. Kien Giang
greeted 2.3 million tourists in the first seven months of 2021, a year-on-year
decline of 32.4 percent. It was estimated to earn 2.64 trillion VND (nearly
115.3 million USD) in the period, down 48.7 percent and hitting 20.8 percent
of the year’s plan. Phu Quoc
alone welcomed over 1.6 million visitors and raked in nearly 1.95 trillion
VND, contracting 28 percent and about 52 percent against the same period last
year, respectively./. All Vietnamese equal to access modern education: new scheme All
Vietnamese people will have equal opportunities to access an open, diverse,
flexible and modern education system by 2030, thus contributing to promoting
the development of human resources, especially high-quality ones, to meet the
requirements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and international
integration. The goal is
set in the project “Building a society of learning in the 2021-2030 period”
recently approved by the Prime Minister. The project
sets targets of 90 percent of provinces to achieve the literacy standards at
Level 2, 100 percent to complete preschool education universalisation for
preschool children, and 70 percent to meet the standard of universal primary
education at Level 3 by 2030. It also
strives for 70 percent of people in the working age to be equipped with
information capacity and living skills, 60 percent aged from 15 trained in
technical and professional qualifications, and 15 percent having a university
degree or higher. In order to
achieve the above goals, the project offers a number of tasks and solutions
such as disseminating and raising awareness about building a learning
society, completing relevant mechanisms and policies, promoting the
implementation of digital transformation and application of information
technology in the organisation of lifelong learning activities. It is
necessary to promote activities of the community learning centre, launch
movements and campaigns to promote life-long learning, and strengthen
international cooperation in the field of life-long learning, build a society
of learning and developing open and distance learning technology, according
to the scheme./. Youth promotes vanguard role in COVID-19 combat Following
Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's call for concerted efforts against
COVID-19, youth union members and young people across the country have
promoted their vanguard role, enthusiasm and creativity by joining activities
on protecting public health. Amidst the
complicated developments of the pandemic in southern provinces and cities,
recently, 57 students from the Yersin University of Da Lat in the Central
Highlands province of Lam Dong volunteered to head to Binh Duong province to
support the COVID-19 fight. The group of volunteer students will work at
hospitals in the province, especially field hospitals. In Bac Giang
province, the local Youth Union is working on final procedures before sending
nearly six tonnes of medical supplies and necessities worth about VND400
million VND to support Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai provinces. Previously,
hundreds of local youth union members joined hands to transport 200 tonnes of
goods and necessities donated by individuals, units and businesses in the
province to support people in the southern localities in response to the
Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF)’s Bac Giang province chapter’s call. Meanwhile,
the Dong Nai Provincial Youth Union in coordination with the provincial VFF
chapter launched two websites https://dongnaiyeuthuong.com and
http://vanchuyen.dongnaiyeuthuong.com to support the reception, management
and distribution of donations for pandemic-hit people in the locality. By accessing
the websites, people can update information on how donations have been
received and allocated in the province since July, 2021. They can also get
access free health consultation and register to participate in volunteer
activities. Source: VNA/VNS/VOV/VIR/SGT/SGGP/Nhan
Dan/Hanoitimes |
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét