VIETNAM NEWS HEADLINES AUGUST 29
15:18
HCM City's home-care programmes for COVID-19
patients offer doctor consultations, medicines
HCM City has rolled out its
home-based care programmes for COVID-19 patients as one of its solutions
for epidemic prevention and control. The
city Department of Health's updated guidelines on home-based
COVID-19 healthcare only allow home monitoring of patients who meet requirements
for self-care capability and facilities at home. COVID-19
home treatment includes antipyretic drugs; health-enhancing drugs such
as vitamins, micronutrients and traditional medicine; antiviral drugs;
and anti-inflammatory corticosteroids and oral anticoagulants (for
patients with early symptoms of respiratory failure and without support from
medical staff), according to Sài Gòn Giải Phóng (Liberated Sài
Gòn) newspaper. Meanwhile,
the team in charge of the programme "Helping COVID patients
recover from illness" consists of 52 doctors, nurses from the
Young Physicians Association of HCM City, and a quick response force
with volunteers to examine and treat patients at home in Phú Nhuận
District. The team
provides drugs and necessary medical equipment for treatment at home,
including 14 types of oriental and western medicine under the guidance of the
Ministry of Health. It also operates online with patients to promptly
advise and provide timely measures when problems arise. Phan Minh Hoàng,
chairman of the HCM City Young Physicians Association, said the team monitors
COVID patients remotely, tells patients how to take care of themselves,
and takes a look at their mental health frequently. If serious issues come
up, the team directs patients to the nearest medical facility for
treatment. The HCM City
Young Physicians Association expects to work with other districts
to expand the programme. The HCM City
University of Medicine and Pharmacy has also implemented a
home-care model in District 8 and District 10. The model
has two teams. While Team 1 monitors patients remotely, Team 2 is
in charge of providing outpatient emergency in collaboration with the
locality. In District
10, 14 wards are monitored by 41 units of Team 1. Team 2 has
prepared 20 emergency beds, eight doctors, 12 nurses, and eight students
and staff working in three shifts 24/7. Each
consulting team takes care of 20 to 30 patients and calls patients for
health updates. Patients can call doctors if they encounter any health
issue. When
patients have respiratory failure or other problems, Team 1 will contact Team
2 to take the patient to the emergency station. If the patient is stable
after the treatment, he or she will be sent home for Team 1 to continue
monitoring. If patients become worse, they will be transferred
to hospitals at a higher level. Similarly,
Phạm Ngọc Thạch University of Medicine recently launched a remote medical
team consisting of experts, doctors and senior students who provide
remote consultation for patients isolated at home. The model is
currently being implemented in District 10 and Thủ Đức City, and the list of
patients will be taken from the local health system. Along with
official programmes that help COVID patients at home, many
prestigious medical organisations and doctors have joined hands to
offer remote consultations as well. Dr Trương
Hữu Khanh, an expert in infectious diseases, has set up a fanpage to offer
consultations for patients at home. “From the
first day when a family member is positive with the virus,
fever-reducing medicine, vitamin C and medicine for people with chronic
underlying diseases should be prepared," Khanh said. "Oxygen
concentration monitoring is also necessary. It is important for family
members and patients to stay calm when the disease worsens and patients
should learn to breathe evenly. If a patient's oxygen level drops
continuously at below 93%, family members should immediately call 155 or
1055 and local health hotlines for further guidance." Nearly 2.5 million workers at 19 Southern localities cease
working due to COVID-19 Nearly 2.5
million workers working in enterprises or manufacturing establishments in 19
Southern localities have to cease working due to COVID-19 pandemic, making up
70 percent of the total number of laborers stopping working nationwide. The
information was released by the special working group on COVID-19 prevention
and control under the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs. As of August
28, more than 79,000 firms withdrew from market because of impacts of
COVID-19, a year-on-year increase of 25.5 percent. Ho Chi Minh
City, the epicenter of the nation’s fourth coronavirus wave, witnessed over
23,000 businesses having to stop operation, the highest number recorded
during 2016-2020 period, up 14.8 percent against the same period last year
and accounting for 29.1 percent of the total figure in the nation. According to
the special working group, Southern localities are home to 195 industrial parks
and one high-tech park, creating 2.3 million jobs. In addition, the region
houses 97 industrial clusters with 113,000 laborers. At present, nearly half
of these businesses have to stop operation due to COVID-19 or lack of
production materials or facing difficulties in circulation of commodities. In Ho Chi
Minh City, only 1,700 enterprises are operating with 50 percent of their
capacity during social distancing period. In Binh
Duong Province, the second biggest coronavirus hotspot of Viet Nam, more than
1,800 firms located at industrial parks, 65 enterprises at industrial
clusters and 2,000 businesses outside industrial parks have remained
"three-on-spot" operation - which means production, meals, and rest
after work at the same place. HCDC corrects COVID-19 vaccination information on
Electronic Health Book for people The HCM City
Centre for Disease Control has promised to amend information entered wrongly
in the Electronic Health Book app for people who have been vaccinated against
COVID-19. It said
information has been updated on the app for most vaccinated people in the
city, but there are errors, with some people vaccinated weeks ago still not
shown as such in it. In case of
incorrect information, it said people could correct it at the
app's correction page. The Ministry
of Health created the app earlier this month, and the public can
register in it for vaccination. It replies,
informing people about the vaccination time and place. Those who
meet medical requirements will be immunised and certified in the app, and the
data will be used for vaccination passports. People can
report symptoms and post-vaccination reactions in it for health agencies to
manage and treat. According to
Lê Minh Tấn, director of the city Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social
Affairs, COVID shots will also be given to 14,000 people at 12 drug addiction
treatment centres. Lao Cai police break large trans-border drug trafficking ring
Police in
the northern border province of Lao Cai have broken a drug trafficking ring,
seizing two suspects and 20 bricks (7kg) of heroin. The police
earlier followed a trans-national drug trafficking ring with the involvement
of both local residents and foreigners. On early
August 27 morning, they caught the two suspects – Chang A Cu, born in 1990
and from Muong Hoa commune of Sa Pa town, and Chau Thi Cha, born in 1992 and
residing in Lao Cai city - when they were illegally trading the drugs. The police
also seized two motorbikes and 9 million VND on the spot. At the
police station, the two confessed that they collaborated with another suspect
to buy drugs from Myanmar. In mid-August, they travelled to Dien Bien
province to receive the drugs to sell in Lao Cai. The police
are conducting further investigation into the case./. Hung comes sixth in Paralympic javelin Cao Ngọc
Hùng managed his seasonal best at the Tokyo Paralympics' men's javelin throw
on Saturday, but it wasn't enough to earn a medal. Hùng, who
won bronze at the last Paralympics and is the current Southeast Asian
Games champion, threw 43.91m in his sixth attempt to rank sixth at the
Olympics Stadium. At the Rio
de Janeiro Games five years ago, Hùng claimed a bronze medal with a 43.27m
throw. His medal is the first and only one of Việt Nam's track and field
paralympic history. Hamed
Heidari of Azerbaijan took a gold with 51.42m result which is also a new
world and Paralympic record. Amanolah
Papi of Iran was second. He set up Asian record of 49.50m. Former world
champion Cicero Valdiran Lins Nobre of Brazil whose world record
was broken by Papi finished third with his seasonal best of 48.93m. Earlier,
Vietnamese swimmer Đỗ Thanh Hải earned better results at his second
Paralympics. Hải came
sixth in the men's 100m breaststroke SB5 finals with a time of 1min
35.68sec. It was five seconds faster than he swam five years ago when he
finished seventh in Rio. Later
Saturday, Trịnh Thị Bích Như finished seventh in the women's 100m
breaststroke SB5 finals with a time of 1min 53sec. Her result and position,
however, were not as good as what she performed in Rio. In the
morning, regional leading athlete Nguyễn Thị Hải competed in the women's
discus throw F57 event. She threw
27.39m which is her seasonal best but was not enough to push her to top
three. Hải ranked ninth. She will
take part in the women's shot put on September 2. Vietnamese
athletes will have a free day on Sunday before they are back in action on
Monday with Như in her last competition in the women's 50m butterfly S6
event and Võ Thanh Tùng in the men's 50m freestyle S5. It is Tùng's strongest
event and he is aiming to win Việt Nam's second medal from Tokyo. State employee to be fired for taking bribes for quick vaccine
jabs A state
employee in Hanoi's Ba Dinh District has been suspended for allegedly
receiving bribes from people who do not want to wait to have their Covid-19
vaccine shots. According to
reports from local authorities, Nong Thi Co was an employee at the Statistics
Office of Vinh Phuc Ward and worked at a local vaccination point. In order to
have a quick vaccine shot without waiting in line, the residents were told to
give Co between VND800,000 to VND1m (USD43). She would immediately arrange
the schedule and issue appointment papers. People from other wards and
districts could also have a quick vaccine jab in Vinh Phuc as they would be
included in a group of employees in a local firm. After the
news broke out, Ta Nam Chien, chairman of Ba Dinh District People's
Committee, said they had suspended Co for 15 days for investigation and
punishment. On August
25, Hanoi Party Secretary Dinh Tien Dung urged the police to quickly
investigate the case. "If the
accusations are true then she must be punished. We'll not let this case
affect the city's reputation and efforts in the vaccination programme,"
Dung said. Vinh Phuc
Ward People's Committee said that they have proposed to the Ba Dinh People's
Committee to fire the employee. New music video by young pop idol Orange tops trending music on
YouTube The latest
music video "Em hat ai nghe", “I sing who listen” in English, by
young Vietnamese pop idol Orange has won the most trending song in the
Trending Music category of YouTube Vietnam, recording more than 3.6 million
views one week after debuting. Her album
also topped the iTunes Chart, was second in the Apple Music Chart, and was
top of Hot14 Realtime. This is in addition to earning high rankings on
domestic online music platforms 72 hours after release. Along with
the release of the music video, Orange has also been honoured to be the first
Vietnamese gen Z artist to be represented in Spotify's global EQUAL campaign. Her song
“Khi Em Lon”, “When you grow up” in English, has featured in the playlist
EQUAL Global, Spotify's long-term global campaign which honours female
artists in the music industry. Most notably, her image has recently appeared
on a billboard in Times Square in New York. Orange
revealed that this memorable milestone in her music career gives her fresh
impetus to make further contributions to her artistic journey. Ministry allocates 103,680 vials of Remdesivir to Hanoi,
Southern localities The Ministry
of Health on August 27 has allocated 103,680 vials of Covid-19 drug
Remdesivir to treat severe Covid-19 patients in medical facilities in Hanoi,
HCMC and Southern provinces. These
bottles of Remdesivir have been distributed to 12 hospitals and intensive
care units in HCMC, Hanoi, Can Tho, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Long An,Tra Vinh
and Vinh Long. The
antiviral drug Remdesivir is used for hospitalized patients with confirmed
SARS-CoV-2 infection, oxygen saturation of 94% or less while they were
breathing ambient air, and radiologic evidence of pneumonia. Remdesivir
is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of
Covid-19 in October, 2020. The antiviral drug Remdesivir helps shorten the
duration of Covid-19 treatment and reduce recovery time from coronavirus. It
has been approved for temporary use as a Covid-19 treatment in approximately
50 countries worldwide. The access to this new drug has been extremely
difficult. Vingroup
successfully negotiated an order of 500,000 Remdesivir drug vials. . The
amount of drugs could be used to support the treatment of about 80,000 to
100,000 Covid-19 patients in Vietnam. The shipments of medicines have been
delivered to Vietnam in August. On the same
day, the Ministry has also launched a temporary list of medicines to treat
Covid-19 at home. Int'l Army Games 2021: Vietnamese delegation receives high
evaluation A
high-ranking delegation from the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) led by
Lieutenant General Phung Si Tan, Deputy Chief of the General Staft of the
VPA, visited Alabino training ground in Moscow, Russia, and encouraged
Vietnamese officers and soldiers joining the ongoing International Army Games
2021. Lauding the
efforts and achievements that Vietnamese teams have gained so far, Tan asked
them to make better preparations for competitions, ensuing safety and
continuing to maintain the highest determination and solidarity. He said that
the Russian side highly valued Vietnam’s sending of a high-ranking delegation
to
the International Military-Technical Forum "Army-2021”
and showed interest in the Vietnamese tank team, especially Tank Crew
No. 1. Vietnam’s
high sense of discipline and friendship with teams from other countries has
also received high evaluation from the Russian side, he said. The
performance of Vietnamese teams competing in events in Russia have been
applauded by other countries, Tan added. The
Vietnamese tank team ranked ninth overall as of August 27 after Tank Crew No.
2 finished its competition in group one at Alabino military training ground
in Moscow. Teams in
group one will have last games on August 28 and 29. The Vietnamese tank team
will compete on August 29 morning (local time) to gain a birth to the
semi-final round. The International
Army Games 2021 is being held from August 22 to September 4 in 11
countries, Russia, Algeria, Armenia, Belarus, Vietnam, Iran, Qatar,
Kazakhstan, China, Serbia, Uzbekistan. In total, more than 5,000 military
personnel, consisting of 277 teams from 42 countries, take part in 34
competitions of the Games 2021./. Military medicos supporting home-bound Covid-19 patients
In
addition to providing treatment to Covid-19 patients at field hospitals,
doctors from the Military Medical Academy have also been deployed to nearly
400 mobile medical stations to support patients at home. Due to their
mild symptoms, Covid-19 patients Nguyen Bao An and his family members were
instructed to treat the illness at home, but they are not alone, as military
medical doctors often visit. Ward 13 in
Tan Binh district currently has 200 Covid-19 patients being treated at home.
The timely support from military medical staff has helped reduce the burden
on the local health sector and saved lives. Mobile
medical teams will support Covid-19 patients until they test
negative and then for a further 14 days. Along with the Military Medical
Academy, medical forces from cities and provinces around the country have
headed to the epicentre of the pandemic in Ho Chi Minh City and the southern
region, with a determination to save lives./. US$37,295 collected from book auction to raise funds for
Covid-19 fund The Ho Chi
Minh City-based Tri Viet Publishing House, registered as First News Company
has so far collected VND855 million (US$37,295) from putting up Professor
John Vu’s Muon Kiep Nhan Sinh ( Many Lives - Many Times) books for auction.
The sum of VND855 million will be sent to Covid-19 funds citywide. As the
ongoing coronavirus epidemic in Ho Chi Minh City has developed complicatedly
with an increasing number of infection cases and deaths, many people are
facing difficulties due to prolonged social distancing, First News - Tri Viet
has organized an auction of publications of the book with special leather
cover with the signature of author Professor John Vu. The special
limited edition of eternal life is a book for collectors of precious books.
This version has a total of 550 books and its covers are hand-made with
artificial leather. The book size is 16cm x 24cm, the intestine is printed on
Japanese cream ford paper. In addition to the special signature copies, the
remaining 546 editions all have First News red stamps, numbered from EFN -
001 to EPN - 546 for collectors to keep. Many Lives,
Many Times is a very special book written by Professor John Vu - Nguyen Phong
to share a wise perspective amid the tumultuous period of the pandemic and
the ongoing calamities in the world. The book was released in Vietnam in 2020
and it has soon become a special phenomenon setting a release record with
more than 240,000 copies within six months. As First
News – Tri Viet yearned to buy ventilators for field hospitals in Ho Chi Minh
City, which are in a serious shortage of equipment, oxygen, and ventilators,
and to supply medical meals for doctors at hospitals and people suffering
severe financial hardship, it has successfully auctioned 16 special editions
of Eternal Life, earning VND 855 million. The
publisher has transferred VND480 million for Hat Vung - Soha fund for the
purchase of five ventilators for Covid-19 hospitals in addition to VND250
million for meals for frontline doctors and nurses, poor patients and
residents as well as medical equipment for hospitals and isolation
facilities. Volunteers
of First News also gave another sum of VND125 million to assist low-income
families in blocked and isolated quarters in districts citywide and Que Huong
Humanitarian Center in the Southern Province of Binh Duong’s Di An town. Prior, the
publisher had supplied 30,000 facemasks and 2,000 books to patients and
health care workers in isolation facilities and field hospitals. Vietnamese swimmers enter final round at Tokyo 2020 Paralympic
Games Vietnamese
swimmers Do Thanh Hai and Trinh Thi Bich Nhu showed strong performance and
bagged tickets to the final round of the men’s 100m breaststroke SB5 and the
women’s 100m breaststroke SB5, respectively, at the ongoing Tokyo 2020
Paralympic Games in Japan. Hai finished
his competition in 1 minute and 35.97 seconds, ranking seventh out of eight
swimmers with the highest scores to enter the final round. Meanwhile,
Nhu completed her 100m breaststroke in 1 minute and 53.31 seconds to win a
berth in the final round of the event. Hai and Nhu
will compete in the final rounds at 19:00 on August 28 evening (local
time)./. Vietnam's National Day celebrated in Canada, Malaysia The
Vietnamese Embassy in Canada held a get-together on August 27 to celebrate the
76th National Day of Vietnam (September 2). Vietnamese
Ambassador to Canada Pham Cao Phong highlighted the significance of the
victory of the August Revolution in 1945 and the foundation of the Democratic
Republic of Vietnam (Socialist Republic of Vietnam now). The
ambassador underlined that despite difficulties caused by the COVID-19
pandemic, the Vietnamese economy has still maintained positive growth,
showing the confidence of foreign investors in the country. From a poor
country, Vietnam has become one of the 16 most successful emerging economies
in the world with a rising position in the world arena, he noted. Phong highly
valued the support from foreign friends and international organisations
during the country’s cause of national construction and defence as well as
COVID-19 prevention and control at present. He expressed
his hope that Vietnam will continue to receive more assistance in vaccines as
well as support in promoting production and import-export of medical
equipment and medicine. For his part,
Paul Thoppil, Assistant Deputy Minister, Asia-Pacific at Global Affairs
Canada, affirmed his country’s unshakable solidarity with Vietnam, especially
amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Canada has recently donated 3.5 million CAD (2.77
million USD) to the ASEAN COVID-19 Response Fund, he said, adding that the
country is working to increase global vaccine access through the COVAX
Facility. Highlighting
the diverse partnership between Canada and Vietnam, he noted that since 1990,
Canada has provided 1.7 billion CAD to socio-economic development programmes
in Vietnam. Trade
between Vietnam and Canada rose 12.9 percent in 2020 and 38.5 percent in the
first sixth months of 2021. Vietnam and Canada are expanding cooperation in
climate change response, sustainable development and green growth. Businesses
of both nations are also seeking partnership in digital economy and green
energy. At the
event, the embassy raised 18,000 CAD (14,000 USD) from the Vietnamese
community in Canada for Vietnam's COVID-19 vaccine fund. On August
28, the Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia also held a ceremony to celebrate the
country's 76th National Day. The diplomat
pledged to continue to accompany the community to overcome the pandemic. The
embassy will make more trips to Vietnamese-inhabited areas to help them deal
with their problems, he said. At the
event, Vietnamese businesses in Malaysia donated 25,000 RM (about 130 million
VND) to charity activities of the embassy./. Ngoc Ha Market closed as new Covid-19 case detected Hanoi has
closed the Ngoc Ha Market in Ba Dinh District since August 27 after a trader
tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The trader
was given a quick test at the Trung Chau Commune Medical Station on August
27. The market will be closed until further notice. Local authorities have
quickly arrived to disinfect the area, carry out contact tracing tasks and
screen tests residents living around Ngoc Ha Market. Hanoi
Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention has issued a notice searching for
people who went to Ngoc Ha Market from 3 am on August 21 to 5 pm on August
27. People have been advised to self-isolate at their homes and contact the
nearest medical station if showing Covid-19 symptoms. They can also call 0969
082 115 or 0949 396 115 to Hanoi CDC or 0243 8432 113 for Ba Dinh Medical
Station. The trader
is a woman born in 1969 and lives in Village 1, Dan Phuong District. She felt
tired and had a fever on August 26. From April
29 until now, Hanoi has reported 2,909 Covid-19 cases including 1,525
community cases and 1,384 cases in quarantine centres. Overseas Vietnamese commended for contributions to home country President of
the Vietnamese Fatherland (VFF) Front Do Van Chien has spoken highly of the
contributions of Vietnamese communities abroad to the development of the home
country, especially in the current battle against COVID-19. The comment
was made during a virtual conference on August 27 between the VFF, its
overseas members and Vietnamese organisations in foreign countries. Chien said
that despite facing numerous difficulties, Vietnamese people living abroad
are always looking to the homeland and have organised many substantive
activities to support the pandemic prevention efforts in Vietnam and contribute
to the vaccine fund. He noted
that many Vietnamese compatriots living abroad have provided advice and
proactively approached vaccine suppliers in order to send home as many
vaccines as possible at the earliest time possible. According to
a report at the conference, overseas Vietnamese individuals and organisations
have donated money and goods worth nearly VND60 billion (US$2.6 million) to
help in the fight against COVID-19. They also
donated VND30 billion and many essential items for people affected by
typhoons and flooding in the central region. State leader offers incense in tribute to President Ho Chi Minh President
Nguyen Xuan Phuc on August 28 offered incense and flowers in tribute to late
President Ho Chi Minh on the occasion of the 76th anniversary
of the August Revolution (August 19) and the
country's National Day (September 2), and the 52nd year of the
implementation of President Ho Chi Minh's Testament. At the relic
site House 67 inside the Presidential Palace complex where President Ho
Chi Minh breathed his last 52 years ago, President Phuc and and
other officials offered incense and flowers in commemoration of the
nation’s beloved leader. Paying
respect to the great leader of the Vietnamese Party and people and
the hero of national liberation and a cultural celebrity, President Phuc
expressed his boundless gratitude to the late President, who devoted his
whole life to the glorious revolutionary cause of the Party and the nation. House 67 is
where President Ho Chi Minh lived, worked and passed away. It provides a
venue for the Political Bureau’s meetings during the fiercest years of the
war in Vietnam./. US-supported project strengthens efforts to protect wildlife Prosecution
rates for wildlife violations have increased 50 per cent over the last three
years thanks to a project which focuses on protecting wildlife in Việt Nam. That was one
of the key results of the USAID Saving Species project announced in Hà Nội on
Friday, at a virtual event that marked the end of its five-year implementation. The
US-supported project began in 2016 with coordination between the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development. It helped
the Vietnamese Government to improve and harmonise the legal system related
to wildlife protection, strengthen law enforcement and prosecution of
wildlife crimes, and reduce demand and illegal consumption of wildlife. Reports
showed that thanks to the project, prosecution rates for wildlife violations
have increased from 25 per cent in 2018 to 75 per cent in 2021. Three social
behaviour change communication campaigns run by the project and the CITES
Management Authority of Việt Nam have raised public awareness about
wildlife protection, with a focus on reducing consumption of ivory, rhino
horn and pangolin products. Among high
income earners, the percentage of buyers of ivory decreased from 16 per cent
in 2018 to nine per cent in 2021, and the percentage of buyers of rhino and
pangolin products decreased from eight per cent in 2018 to six per cent in
2021. The project
also supported the development, amendment and adoption of four important
legal documents that are key to ensuring consistent management and protection
of wildlife in Việt Nam, resolving legal gaps and overlapping regulations. It trained
more than 2,600 officials from agencies including forestry protection
departments, customs officials, environmental police, wet market managers,
border guards, courts, and prosecutors to help them more effectively tackle
wildlife crimes. Speaking at
the event, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Lê Quốc Doanh
said: “The joint effort of USAID and the Vietnamese government through USAID
Saving Species project has contributed significantly to protect wildlife
species and maintaining important eco-services to the national and regional
sustainable socio-economic development.” USAID/Vietnam
Mission Director Ann Marie Yastishock added: “USAID is proud to support Việt
Nam to reduce consumer demand for illegal wildlife products, build wildlife
law enforcement and prosecution capacity, as well as augment and harmonise
the legal framework for combating wildlife crime in Việt Nam. "We are
very pleased to see that the cooperation between the two countries through
this project has brought meaningful results. Việt Nam is a critical partner
of the United States for countering wildlife trafficking.” Through
subsequent projects, USAID will continue to support effective protection of
wildlife and the strengthened cooperation of the two countries in wildlife
crime prevention and control. What is Hanoi’s COVID-19 screening plan before end of social
distancing? Hanoi has
issued a mass testing plan to be carried out over the next week to detect
people infected with coronavirus in the community before the current social
distancing period is set to end on September 6. Based on its
assessment, the city government stated that undetected COVID-19 cases may
still remain in the community and the latest testing drive will concentrate
on lockdown areas and high-risk people. The campaign
will take place from August 27 to September 4, with about 200,000 samples to
be tested using the RT-PCR method. If the rate
of positive cases is below 1% and the cases are concentrated in central
districts, Hanoi will mobilise local healthcare centres and hospitals to
provide treatment for the infected people. In a worse
scenario of the positive rate being greater than 1%, the city is expected to
call for support from other provinces and cities. Overseas Vietnamese contribute remarkably to COVID-19 fight in
homeland The Standing
Board of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee on August 27
held an online conference with overseas Vietnamese (OV) associations,
including those in Cambodia, Thailand, Russia, Hungary, Japan, Poland,
France, the US, Canada and the Czech Republic. The meeting
aimed to increase the exchange of information, gather ideas and
recommendations, and promote the role and contributions of members of the 4th
VFF Central Committee and Vietnamese associations abroad in enhancing unity
among OV communities and contributing to development in the homeland. Participants
were updated on the country's socio-economic situation, and results of
OV-related affairs in 2020 and in the first eight month of 2021 implemented
by the Standing Board of the VFF Central Committee. According to
Vice President of the VFF Central Committee Phung Khanh Tai, many practical
activities were held to promote unity among OVs, and take care of and protect
legitimate rights and interests of Vietnamese communities abroad. Tai said
Vietnamese organisations and individuals abroad donated money and goods worth
nearly 60 billion VND (over 2.6 million USD) to support the fight against
COVID-19 in the homeland, and more than 30 billion VND (over 1.3 million USD)
and essential goods to help flood victims in the central region. Those, who
are overseas members of the 4th VFF Central Committee, have shown an active
role in disseminating the Party's guidelines and policies and the State's
laws, and mobilising OVs to respond to patriotic emulation movements launched
by the VFF. Phan Bich
Thien, Chairwoman of the Vietnamese Women's Association in Hungary, said the
organisation has collected donations totalling 20,000 EUR (nearly 23,600 USD)
to support COVID-19 affected people in Ho Chi Minh City. Tran Ba
Phuc, Chairman of the Vietnamese Business Association in Australia (VBAA),
said the Vietnamese business community in the country is making efforts to
lobby the host government to donate vaccines to and assist Vietnam in purchasing
COVID-19 vaccines produced in Australia. Representing
the Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic and Europe, Chairman of the
Union of Vietnamese People Associations in Europe Hoang Dinh Thang reported
on difficulties facing OVs amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as their
efforts to stabilise their lives and prevent the disease. The Union of
Vietnamese People Associations in Europe has organised practical activities
to raise funds for and support expatriates as well as local people affected
by natural disasters and the pandemic, Thang said. President of
the VFF Central Committee Do Van Chien highly valued the efforts and
contributions made by members of the committee, Vietnamese unions and
associations abroad, especially in socio-economic development and the fight
against COVID-19 in the homeland. He called on
Vietnamese expats in particular and communities in general to have more
practical activities and contributions in order to firmly reinforce the
national great unity bloc./. HCMC Party chief assumes direct role in city’s anti-Covid fight HCMC Party
Secretary Nguyen Van Nen will assume the overall responsibility in the
anti-Covid-19 fight in the city, while other leaders will oversee such
efforts in particular districts or a special task in the city’s anti-Covid
fight, according to the municipal Party Committee. Apart from
the role of overseeing the fight against Covid-19 in the city, Nen is
responsible for directing Thu Duc City and Binh Tan District to suppress the
pandemic. In addition,
newly-elected Chairman of HCMC Phan Van Mai, deputy head of the city’s
anti-virus steering committee, is in charge of giving directives over Covid
infection prevention and control in the entire city, and directly guiding the
Covid fight in District 8. HCMC
People’s Council Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Le is responsible for directing
the supervision of epidemic prevention and control and directly guiding
prevention and control operations in District 3 and Cu Chi District. Deputy
secretary of the HCMC Party Committee Nguyen Ho Hai was tasked with
mobilizing forces for the anti-virus fight, ensuring social welfare and
directly monitoring Covid-19 infection prevention and control operations in
District 4 and Tan Binh District. Other
members of the municipal Party Committee were also assigned to assume
Covid-19 infection prevention and control tasks in the remaining districts,
including Nguyen Huu Hiep, head of the municipal Commission of Mass
Mobilization, in Go Vap District; and Phan Nguyen Nhu Khue, head of the HCMC
Party Committee’s Board for Propaganda and Education, District 5. Chairwoman
of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of HCMC To Thi Bich Chau is in
charge of the anti-virus tasks in Phu Nhuan; Le Thanh Liem, head of the
Internal Affairs Department, in District 6; Duong Ngoc Hai, chairman of the
HCMC Inspection Commission, in Tan Phu; Nguyen Van Nam, commander of the HCMC
High Command, in District 12. The Covid
infection prevention and control operations in the districts of 10, Thu Duc
and 1 were assigned for Le Hong Nam, director of the HCMC Police Department;
Nguyen Van Hieu, Thu Duc Party secretary; and Tran Kim Yen, District 1 Party
secretary, respectively. Further,
HCMC vice chairpeople, including Ngo Minh Chau, Vo Van Hoan, Duong Anh Duc, Le
Hoa Binh and Phan Thi Thang are in charge of monitoring the tasks in the
districts of Nha Be, 11, Hoc Mon, Binh Chanh and Binh Thanh. Nguyen Van
Dung, vice chairman of the HCMC People’s Council, was responsible for guiding
and monitoring anti-virus tasks in District 7, while Huynh Thanh Nhan,
director of the HCMC Department of Home Affairs, will lead the anti-Covid
fight in Can Gio District and mobilize anti-virus forces. The
governments of Thu Duc City and other districts were told to work with these
officials to adopt anti-virus measures and ensure social welfare. The
assignment was aimed at bringing the Covid-19 pandemic under control as soon
as possible, the local media reported. Dong Thap presents gifts to Cambodia’s Prey Veng The
Fatherland Front and Border Guard Command of Dong Thap Province presented
gifts to the Solidarity Front for Development of Cambodia’s Prey Veng
Province on August 27. The gifts
included 25,000 medical masks, 500 bottles of sanitisers and 2 tonnes of rice
worth a total of VND80 million (US$3,500). The goods
are expected to help ease difficulties for poor households in the Cambodian
province during the fight against COVID-19. Chairman of
the Dong Thap Fatherland Front Le Thanh Cong said he expects that the two
provinces will uphold the traditional solidarity between Vietnam and Cambodia
and build a border of peace, friendship, cooperation and development. For his
part, Vice President of the Prey Veng Solidarity Front for Development Moam
Chanh Da Ra thanked Dong Thap for the support and pledged to use the gifts in
fighting against COVID-19 effectively. HCMC has yet to issue Covid-19 vaccination plan for people 12-17
years old Speaking at
a press conference held by the HCMC Steering Committee for Covid-19
Prevention and Control on August 27, Deputy Head of the HCMC Center for
Disease Control Dr. Nguyen Hong Tam said that the HCMC’s health sector has
not issued Covid-19 vaccination plan for people 12-17 years old yet. Regading to
the plans for the 2020-2021 academic year, head of the Office of the HCMC
Department of Education and Training Nguyen Thanh Trung said that textbooks
have already been prepared. Of these, 70 percent of primary school textbooks
have been transported to schools. The
department has also proposed the HCMC People’s Committee to add school books
to the list of essential goods in the beginning of the new academic year to
create advantage for granting travel document and the supply of books to
students. Besides, the
municipal Department of Education and Training has cooperated with publishing
houses to deploy free online textbooks in case of students' textbook purchase
delay, he added. In order to
resolve the problem of the support of food shopping, the Department of
Industry and Trade of HCMC has publicized phone numbers of districts’ units
in charge of the areas for local residents to contact for assistance, said
deputy director of the department Nguyen Nguyen Phuong. Regarding to
the problem that many people could not connect with the Covid-19 support
hotlines 1022, Deputy Director of the Information and Comunications of HCMC
Le Quoc Cuong said that they have been overload with calls. The zero
branch of the Information Portal 1022 received 47,000 calls reflecting
Covid-19 situation and transferred them to the functional agencies from May
28 to August 25. The lines of
the branch No.1 of the HCMC People’s Council got 335 opinions from July 16 –
August 25 while the lines of branch No.2 receiving information of the munical
Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, the People’s Committees and
functional departments at all levels received more than 179,000 requests. Doctors and
specialists provided over 26,200 calls for healthcare consultancy via the
lines of the branch No.3 from July 23 – August 25 while volunteers accepted
65,225 calls for support on the lines of the branch No.4 from August 6-25. People can
aslo use social media sites and platforms, including email, website, mobile
apps, facebook and zalo to connect with the Information Portal 1022, he said. Speaking at
the event, Deputy Director of the Department of Information and
Communications, Tu Luong suggested people consider the accuracy of the
information on social media and the impact it may have before sharing. The
department and relevant authorities have imposed many administrative fines
for spreading fake news and rumors on social media, especially false news
against the government and untrue information about Covid-19 pandemic, he
stressed. Diplomatic sector effectively serves national defence,
development: Minister The
diplomatic sector has made great contributions to the cause of national
defence, construction and development throughout the country’s history over
the past more than seven decades, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son
wrote in an article on the occasion of the ministry's 76th founding
anniversary (August 28, 1945-2021). He noted
that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam was founded 76 years ago
together with the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, with
the first Minister of Foreign Affairs being Ho Chi Minh, who was also the
President of the then Provisional Government. Right after
its foundation in the context that the country was facing enemies from both
inside and outside, the sector focused on protecting the young revolutionary
administration and prolonging the valuable peaceful period for the
preparation of forces for a long-term resistance period. Upholding
the principle of peace, national independence and socialism, the sector
became a strategic front in the two resistance wars, mobilising the support
from socialist countries and peace-lovers in the world for the just struggle
for national freedom, according to Son. In close
coordination with political and military struggles, the diplomatic sector
gained important successes at the negotiations in Geneva in 1954 and Paris in
1973, opening up great opportunities for the nation to head to the
reunification day, the minister wrote. During the
post-war period with numerous difficulties and challenges, the Vietnamese
diplomatic sector optimised the support and help from socialist countries and
international friends to the cause of national reconstruction, development
and defence. Diplomacy
became a tool to clear the way for the country to generally remove blockage
and embargo and set up relationships with neighbouring countries, world
powers and many partners, opening up a new context for external relations to
effectively serve the country’s comprehensive reform process, Son affirmed. Regarding
the sector’s contributions to the country’s “Doi Moi” (Renewal) and
international integration, Son underlined that with an external policy of independence,
self-reliance, peace, cooperation, development, multilateralisation and
diversification, and active and proactive international integration for the
interests of the nation, the sector has taken the lead in constructing peace,
protecting the Fatherland and attracting resources for the country’s
development, and improving Vietnam's position. So far,
Vietnam has established diplomatic ties with 189 countries, including 17
strategic partners and 13 comprehensive partners. The nation also set up economic
partnerships with more than 230 economies around the world and signed 15 free
trade agreements (FTA), including many new generation deals. Vietnam has
successfully hosted many large-scale international events and completed many
international missions such as the role of a non-permanent member of the
United Nations Security Council in the 2008-2009 and 2020-2021 tenures, the
host of the ASEAN Summits in 1998, 2010 and 2020, the Asia-Europe Meeting
Summit in 2004, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Meetings
in 2006 and 2017, the World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia in 2010 and the
WEF on ASEAN in 2018, and the US-DPRK Summit in 2019, he noted. Son stressed
that since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out and developed complicatedly in the
world and inside the country, the diplomatic sector, together with other
ministries and sectors, enhanced “medical diplomacy” and "vaccine
diplomacy” to optimise the timely and efficient support of the international
community in vaccine, medical supplies and medicine, thus joining hands with
the whole country in controlling the pandemic and boosting socio-economic
development at the same time. These
outstanding achievements of the diplomatic sector have significantly
contributed to the country's great successes of historical significance over
the past 35 years of renewal, proving the sound foreign policy of the Party,
the minister concluded./. Charity auction to raise funds for COVID-19 fight A charity
auction programme to raise funds and donate medical supplies to frontline
medical workers and hospitals in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic will
be organised on August 28 evening by the organisers of the Vietnam
International Fashion Week (VNIFW). The event
will take place on OnMeeting platform and will be livestreamed on the Fanpage
of the VNIFW. It aims to
call on those working in the fashion industry to join hands in the fight
against COVID-19. Chairwoman
of the Vietnam International Fashion Week Trang Le said the auction is
expected to partially contribute to COVID-19 prevention and control efforts
of the country, especially in the southern region. The
programme will see the participation of famous people such as Francesca
Baronio - wife of the EU Ambassador to Vietnam, businesswoman and actress
Truong Ngoc Anh, businesswoman and fashionista Tien Nguyen, artist Minh
Trang, singer Tung Duong, singer Doan Trang, and designers Nguyen Cong Tri,
Adrian Anh Tuan, and Thuy Nguyen, among others./. Vietnamese student wins third prize at 50th UPU writing contest Vietnamese
student Dao Anh Thu, an eighth grader from Nguyen Huy Tuong Secondary School,
Dong Anh District, Hanoi City, won third prize at the 50th Universal Postal
Union (UPU) International Letter Writing Contest. The
information was announced by the UPU International Office at the closing
plenary session of the 27th Congress of the Postal Union in Abidjan (Ivory
Coast) on the evening of August 27, 2021. The 50th UPU
International Letter Writing Competition - 2021 was organised by the UPU with
the theme: "Write a letter to a family member about your experience with
COVID-19". As the
author of the letter that won the international third prize, Dao Anh Thu chose
the idea of sending a letter to a baby girl born while her mother was
treating Covid-19 at the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases. The letter
described the difficulties and hardships of the doctors and the pride in
their contributions to the prevention and control of the pandemic in
Vietnam. With a clear
message, a logical and reasonable presentation, and a record of practical
experiences, the letter brought Vietnam one of the top three prizes of the
50th UPU International Letter Writing Contest, extending Vietnam’s
performance in the 33rd year of participation. This is the 16th time that a
Vietnamese student has won an international prize at this competition. The
international first prize went to Nubaysha Islam (female, 14 years old) from
Bangladesh. The international second prize was awarded to Bruno Ivanovski
(male, 14 years old) from North Macedonia for a letter to his grandmother. In
addition, UPU also awarded five consolation prizes to students from Belarus,
Brazil, Indonesia, Turkey and Libya. Every year,
the Universal Postal Union (UPU) holds the UPU International Letter Writing
Contest encouraging young writers aged 9-15 to write letters on a given theme
to win exciting prizes. The competition is an excellent way to develop
writing skills among youths and boost their ability to express their thoughts
clearly regarding the social problem they may be concerned about. It also
aims to foster and nurture the young generation's awareness and
responsibilities towards society, their nation, as well as the whole world. US CDC Southeast Asia Regional Director: Vietnam and the US to
promote strategic relationship on health security “Vietnam and
the US will strengthen strategic ties on health security” said Dr. John
MacArthur, US CDC Southeast Asia Regional Director at the press conference
took place over the phone on August 27. “I want to
highlight that, when talking about CDC’s 70-plus-year relationship in
Southeast Asia, it actually began with a trip from malaria experts from CDC
to Vietnam to work in the northern part of the country on malaria control. We
value our longstanding relationship with the people of Vietnam and we also
value the 23-year history of our bilateral office here in Vietnam. We also
recognise that Vietnam plays a leadership role in ASEAN. It also plays a
leadership role in the Global Health Security Agenda, having led one of the
action packages for that agenda. The government has been very welcoming and
supportive in working with us. I mentioned we had the deputy prime minister,
the vice minister of foreign affairs, and the health minister all in
attendance at our launch on Wednesday, and I think that this shows the
strong, strong political commitment we have.” said John MacArthur. The regional
office will build on relationships with regional partners, support countries
in the region that previously had limited CDC presence, and enhance
cross-country collaborations. The regional office will work to strengthen
core health security capacities in areas such as surveillance, data use,
laboratory science, workforce development, and emergency preparedness. Earlier, at
the opening ceremony of the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s
Southeast Asia Regional Office in Hanoi on August 25, US Vice President
Kamala Harris said "We are working to train health professionals in the
field of epidemiology, and the training programme ‘disease detectives’ has
actually been in place in Asia since 1980.". “This is
really an extremely important programme for developing the public health
workforce, providing training for the epidemiologists who respond to these
disease outbreaks. We’re happy
to say that there is the ASEAN+3 Field Epidemiology Training Network here in
the region, and this is run through ASEAN, as a means for all these ASEAN
programs to be networked together and learn from one another. With the launch
of this Regional Office, we will work with our key partners in workforce
development and field epidemiology training, because we want to build their
capacity and use their network throughout the Southeast Asian states.” said
John MacArthur. “Vietnam was
selected as a regional platform because of the successful relationships and
the infrastructure developed through programs that we’ve had for many years
here in the country, including PEPFAR (the President’s Emergency Plan for
AIDS Relief) and our global health security work. We recognise that Vietnam
is an active participant in regional bodies such as ASEAN. They have been
very active in the Global Health Security Agenda as well. The Vietnam
Ministry of Health is supportive of this regional focus of the CDC is very
interested in working with us.” “The US thus
far has donated over 23 million vaccines for emergency health and
humanitarian assistance across ASEAN, including sending 6 million doses here
to Vietnam. We’ve also pledged US$500,000 to the ASEAN COVID-19 Response
Fund, which will support the purchase of additional vaccines. And finally,
while maybe not quite specific to Vietnam or even Southeast Asia, the United
States has pledged 500 million additional Pfizer vaccines for distribution
through the COVAX mechanism, which is the single largest vaccine donation in
history and essentially half of the G7’s commitment thus far.”. The CDC
Southeast Asia Regional Office builds upon the collaboration between our
governments and the unity that Southeast Asia has demonstrated during the
pandemic, and also through organisations such as ASEAN. Long An Province urged to step up testing in “red zones” Deputy Prime
Minister Vu Duc Dam has asked the southern province of Long An to accelerate
testing within “red zones”, which refer to areas where there are many
COVID-19 cases. The request
was made on August 27 during a tour to inspect pandemic prevention and
patient treatment in the red zone district of Duc Hoa. He stated
that local authorities need to provide even better care for those living in
lockdown areas and quickly prepare plans for restoring production in safe
zones. The Deputy
PM noted that Long An should consider the option of allowing workers in safe
zones to return to work while paying attention to health supervision and
vaccination so as to ensure safety against the virus. According to
the Ministry of Health, Vietnam recorded 12,920 cases of COVID-19 and 356
deaths on August 27, of which the hotspot of Ho Chi Minh City accounted for
5,383 cases. Books brought to residents in blocked, isolated areas in HCMC Along with
the supply of necessities, over the past time, many organizations and
publishing houses have joined hands to bring books into isolation and blocked
areas so that patients can take up reading during these days when Ho Chi Minh
City has been practicing strict social distancing. In these boring days of
social distancing, the activity of bringing books to readers is very
meaningful. Since
mid-July, Ho Chi Minh City General Publishing House and leaders of Phu Nhuan
District have donated books to people in quarantine and blocked areas in the
district. The program
has donated nearly 1,000 books of various kinds including literature,
children, culture, history, skills, health to city dwellers in blocked and
isolated areas. People can listen to Audiobooks (audiobooks) with 200 books
on the Voiz FM app within 30 days. Additionally,
around 1,000 vouchers were issued to people to access free movies on the
Galaxy Play app in isolation facilities. Up to now, the program has donated
books to 30 blocked zones and 4 concentrated isolation areas in Phu Nhuan
District. At the same
time, the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Union, the office of Vietnam Publishing
Association in the Southern region, and the Ho Chi Minh City Department of
Information and Communications jointly implemented the program. In a short
time, the program has received more than 20,000 books of all kinds, including
paper books, e-books, and audiobooks. Many publishing companies such as Youth
Publishing House, National Political Publishing House, Saigon Books, Huy
Hoang Books, Thai Ha Books, Fahasa, Quang Van Company have joined the
program. According to
Mr. Le Hoang, Vice President of the Vietnam Publishing Association, the
program of bringing books to readers in quarantined and isolated areas should
be expanded because many provinces and cities across the country have been
practicing social distancing. Books were
given just some places not all isolated and blocked areas meanwhile the
demand is still great. Nevertheless, due to travel restrictions, employees of
the publishing houses were unable to send books to the program. After
sending books to residents in Phu Nhuan District, on August 16, Ho Chi Minh
City General Publishing House donated paper books and e-books to habitants in
District 1 and districts 5 and 7 respectively. The program happily has
created a positive effect. Currently,
the Ben Tre Provincial Youth Union has been working with this publishing
house to equip e-books for two field hospitals in Ben Tre City, and isolation
areas in two districts of Ba Tri and Thanh Phu. Director of
the General Publishing House of Ho Chi Minh City Dinh Thi Thanh Thuy said
that the Covid-19 epidemic has affected the country for two years, many
publishing companies are currently facing difficulties. Publishing companies
can only partially support it because they are also facing difficulties while
bookstores are not allowed to open. Worse, they can’t sell books on the
internet as books are not classified as essential commodities; therefore,
shippers can’t ship books to residents. Source:
VNA/VNS/VOV/VIR/SGT/SGGP/Nhan Dan/Hanoitimes |
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