Coronavirus pandemic

Leaders of the Thong Nhat Hospital and members of its team pose for a photo before leaving for Ninh Thuan province (Source: VNA) HCM City (VNA) – Medical workers from the Cho Ray and Thong Nhat hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City have left for Ca Mau and Ninh Thuan provinces to help with the COVID-19 fight there. The team from the Thong Nhat Hospital on October 16 departed for central Ninh Thuan province, where the pandemic has got worse over the past few days. They also brought along equipment and medicine necessary for treating patients in critical conditions. Director of the Thong Nhat Hospital Le Dinh Thanh said the team will stay in Ninh Thuan until the coronavirus outbreak in the central province is basically brought under control. Meanwhile, the team from the Cho Ray Hospital went to the southernmost province of Ca Mau on October 15. Apart from treating COVID-19 patients, they will also provide advice and training for local health workers. HCM City sent …

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Vietnam’s business hub Ho Chi Minh City will first resume interprovincial tours from November 1 before re-launching international tourism activities in early 2022, according to its plan for tourism recovery from COVID-19. The plan has been launched as the southern city and the country in general are loosening strict COVID-19 restrictions to resume socio-economic activities under ‘new normal conditions,’ a phrase the Vietnamese government uses to describe its new strategy of living safely with the coronavirus. Accordingly, the tourism recovery will follow a three-phase roadmap that requires strict compliance with epidemic prevention measures. In the first phase, which lasts from now to October 31, the city will reopen local tourism activities in “green zones”, meaning areas without known COVID-19 infection cases. People can select tours organized by travel companies or go by themselves to destinations in districts where the pandemic has been put under control. Hotels and …

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The contest comprises of 19 challenges to be completed in 19 days, enough for participants to get in the habit of minimizing plastic use. The number 19 also means that plastic waste is another alarming issue of the world, similar to the COVID-19 pandemic it is facing. All Vietnamese people aged 18 – 35 are invited to take advantage of their creativeness to inspire people to take actions and change their perception into rejecting, reusing, reducing and recycling plastic products. Many Vietnamese artists are engaged in the campaign. The competition forms part of the “Youth and Innovation for Ocean” initiative by UNESCO and GreenHub’s “Local Solutions for Plastic Pollution” funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The “Youth and Innovation for Ocean” initiative aims to encourage university students and young professionals to put forward innovative and practical solutions in reducing, reusing, recycling and managing plastic products in coastal regions of …

[Read more...] about Social network campaign launched to change plastic use habit

Products exported to the U.S. would take over three weeks to be transported, and another three to be put into storage as only half of the workforce is available due to the pandemic. For products exported to China, the time it takes to do so is around 7-8 days instead of the usual 4-5. Such delayed customs clearance have affected the costs and quality of exported products, Nguyen Dinh Tung, director of the Vina T&T company, said at a meeting on agricultural product sale on Saturday. Port congestion in both Vietnam and around the world is severely impacting exports, Tung said. Prolonged transportation time has also caused imported products to be spoiled, he added. Personnel working at ports, both in Vietnam and around the world, is being limited to 50 percent, causing export delays. Increased booking cancellation rates by shipping companies has also been a problem. The Covid-19 situation in the south has also caused shipping companies to cut down the number of voyages to …

[Read more...] about Port congestion impedes agricultural exports

HCMC led the daily tally with 790 cases, followed by Dong Nai with 397 and Binh Duong with 385. 88 deaths were recorded, with 58 cases in Ho Chi Minh City, 11 in Binh Duong, three in Tien Giang, Long An and Tay Ninh each, two in An Giang and Can Gio, and one each in Binh Thuan, Dak Nong, Dong Nai, Gia Lai, Kien Giang and Soc Trang. The total coronavirus death toll so far is 21,131, accounting for around 2.4 percent of all infections. Also on Saturday, 1,581 Covid-19 patients were announced recovered, bringing the number of recovered cases to 790,504. Over 60.5 million have been vaccinated, with more than 17.6 million receiving two doses. …

[Read more...] about Vietnam records 3,211 new local Covid cases

Revenue of the passenger transport operator hit nearly VND600 million in the third quarter of this year, down 98 percent compared to the same period of 2020. Suspending operations during the social distancing order, the company mainly survived by collecting service fees for cargo vehicles at the terminal. During January-September, revenue dropped by 38 percent to more than VND50 billion, equivalent to one-third the 2021 plan. Post-tax profit recorded a decrease of 67 percent to nearly VND14 billion, equivalent to one-fourth the profit target. In a recent move, Ho Chi Minh City plans to reopen inter-provincial buses from November to meet the demand of workers returning to the city, a hub of industrial and processing parks. However, passenger transport routes are required to operate 50 percent of the frequency, gradually increasing as scheduled. Previously, the inter-provincial passenger transport service had suffered seriously from the high-Covid-risk city’s decision on …

[Read more...] about Mien Tay Bus Station reports first loss

A Vietnam-Singapore forum specifically for senior energy industry leaders is scheduled to be held on October 21 in Hanoi in order to discuss how to maintain growth and sustainability, even during crises and challenging contexts. The key topics on the agenda for discussion are global energy sector development and trends, challenges, opportunities, and strategic implications for the nation. This is along with methods for navigating through the COVID-19 pandemic as adopted by leading regional corporations such as Temasek Holdings and Sembcorp Industries. Speakers include influential regional leaders such as Douglas Foo, president of the Singapore Manufacturing Federation, chairman of the Vietnam-Singapore Business Council, and a nominated Singapore MP. He will be joined by Vu Minh Khuong, associate professor at the National University of Singapore, Fadah Alsagoff, management team member and head of enterprise development at Temasek Holdings, Singapore, and Wong …

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Illustrative image (Photo: Xinhua/VNA) Vientiane (VNA) - The Lao Ministry of Health on October 15 said that in the past 24 hours, the country has recorded 573 new cases of COVID-19 , including 571 found in the community. According to the Ministry of Health, the COVID-19 pandemic in the country is still complicated as the number of cases has been on the rise in some provinces and cities, putting great pressure on the national health system. To date, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Laos has reached 31,188 cases, including 36 deaths. The Ministry of Health has requested health authorities in provinces and cities to urgently COVID-19 patients to treatment establishments and trace close contacts for testing and quarantine in accordance with regulations. At the same time, they were asked to continue preparing isolation centres and adequate treatment facilities to promptly treat patients. In addition, the Ministry of Health also urged local people to …

[Read more...] about Laos sees increase in new COVID-19 cases

The public administrative centre of Yen Bai province (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The revenue to the state budget in the first 9 months of this year amounted to 1,084.7 trillion VND, representing 80.75 percent of the projection and an increase of 10.75 percent over the figure recorded in the same period last year, according to the Finance Ministry. Meanwhile, the expenditure from the state coffer was estimated at 116.3 trillion VND, with the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic being prioritised. By the end of September, 29.1 trillion VND from the state budget was spend on the fight and support to those adversely affected by the pandemic. Despite the serious impacts of the pandemic, the revenue still increased year on year thanks to the economic growth momentum in the last month of last year, the ministry said. For the rest of the year, the ministry will continue accelerating administrative procedure reforms on taxation, simplifying business conditions, and joining …

[Read more...] about Revenue to state budget increases over 10 percent

Traffic turned heavy on roads leading to Ba Ria - Vung Tau on Saturday morning after the southern Vietnamese province’s administration had removed medical control measures, including COVID-19 testing certificate mandate, imposed on arrivals. Residents of Ho Chi Minh City started searching for the new COVID-19 prevention and control regulations in Ba Ria - Vung Tau on Friday evening, when the provincial authorities announced the relaxation of curbs on socio-economic activities and medical controls. Accordingly, arrivals to the province are no longer required to present a negative COVID-19 testing certificate while beach-going and outdoor sporting activities such as walking, golf and tennis are resumed with a limited number of participants starting Saturday. Many people thus drove their vehicles from Ho Chi Minh City to Vung Tau, the popular beach city of the southern province, on Saturday morning. Vehicles pass through a tollbooth on a section of National Highway 51 in …

[Read more...] about Vehicles flock to Vietnam’s southern beach city as COVID-19 testing certificate mandate removed