Talk Vietnam

Firefighters at the incident site at Alley 47, Lạc Long Quân Road, District 11, HCM City, Friday afternoon. — VNA/VNS Photo HCM CITY — Eight people, including five children, died from smoke inhalation during a fire in HCM City late on Friday afternoon. The blaze started in a two-storey house in a small alley on Lạc Long Quân Road, District 11, at about 5pm. The building, reportedly both a candle shop and a private teaching centre, had only one main entrance, and its location in the alley made it difficult for firefighters to access and prevent the fire from spreading. The casualties were identified as Hồ Đình Thắng, 45-year-old man, owner of the house; five children – Hồ Đình Nam, nine years old, Lê Kim Tuyến, 18, Lê Ngân Tuyến, 13, Lê Tân Tuyến, nine, and Nguyễn Tấn Đạt, 15; and their female teacher (name not yet known). The eighth casualty has not yet been identified. A witness in the neighbourhood said they saw people waving hands to ask for help but the fire was too intense to get inside. The fire was put out at 6:12pm. The site has been sealed off to investigate the cause of the fire. — VNS …

[Read more...] about Five children among eight casualties in HCM City fire

A nurse prepares an AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine dose for administration. — VNA/VNS Photo Thế Duyệt HÀ NỘI — A 35-year-old female medical worker in the southern province of An Giang died on Friday of anaphylactic shock after receiving a dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine a day earlier. Từ Quốc Thuấn, director of An Giang’s health department, confirmed the death late on Friday, making this the first death from adverse reaction to COVID-19 vaccine in Việt Nam since the country started its inoculation drive using primarily AstraZeneca doses in early March. The woman was working at Tân Chân Region General Hospital and received the vaccine shot on Thursday. After the injection, the patient went into shock and was treated by the Tân Châu Hospital in accordance with the protocol. The hospital also consulted with experts and doctors from the An Giang Province General Hospital and Chợ Rẫy Hospital in HCM City via telemedicine regarding the treatment. She was then transferred to An Giang Province’s General Hospital, and the Ministry of Health instructed Chợ Rẫy Hospital to send intensive care specialists there to provide emergency assistance, but the patient did not survive. The official cause of death was registered as anaphylaxis, with an underlying condition identified as an allergy to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The health ministry’s notice said this is an extremely rare incident in regards to COVID-19 vaccinations. Health minister Nguyễn Thanh Long called the woman's family to send his condolences and sympathies for their loss as well as the loss of An Giang’s frontline healthcare forces. Earlier on Thursday, Long along with three of his deputies received AstraZeneca doses , stressing the need to ensure a safe vaccination programme. "The Ministry of Health has established a Steering Committee for safe immunisation, which brings together leading experts and professors in all relevant fields to be ready to assist localities in …

[Read more...] about Việt Nam records first death from adverse reaction to AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine

National Cancer Hospital's Tân Triều facility under lockdown starting Friday morning. — VNA/VNS Photo HÀ NỘI — The health ministry confirmed 40 domestically transmitted COVID-19 infections on Friday evening, including 11 at the National Cancer Hospital (K Hospital) in Hà Nội, 10 of whom were reported earlier in the day . Seven patients under treatment at the Tân Triều facility of the hospital along with four relatives of patients have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the ministry. Three facilities of the hospital in Hà Nội, the largest cancer hospital in the country, with about 5,000 people – including staff, patients, carers and service workers – were ordered to quarantine at the hospital early on Friday morning until further notice. Hà Nội also recorded nine more patients in Thường Tín District – including one-year-old and eight-year-old girls. Two of the nine likely caught the virus from coronavirus-positive Chinese experts at the same hotel during a visit to the central city of Đà Nẵng in late April, and seven of their direct contacts are now positive to the virus. They are now treated at the Kim Chung facility of the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Đông Anh District, Hà Nội, the frontline hospital for treating COVID-19 patients, which was placed under lockdown for two weeks since yesterday after a cluster of cases was reported here. Hà Nội today reported three more cases at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases , including two medical workers and one relative of a patient, bringing the total cases to 41 (among the 800 present at the hospital when it went under lockdown), in addition to another 39-year-old woman in Hà Đông District who had recently been in the hospital to take care of a patient there. The northern provinces of Phú Thọ, Nam Định and Hưng Yên respectively recorded one, one and four cases of COVID-19, all connected to the tropical diseases hospital’s cluster. The central province of Nghệ An …

[Read more...] about Việt Nam sees 40 new local COVID-19 infections, including 11 at National Cancer Hospital