Foreign ship arrivals down 6 percent in first two months Vietnam’s sea ports have berthed some 4,900 foreign vessels over the last two months, a decline of 6 percent year-on-year, according to the Vietnam Marine Administration. The fall was due largely to the impact of COVID-19, which is resulting in major fluctuations in the transport sector, a representative of the administration said. Despite the lower number of foreign ships, the volume of import and export goods through ports grew. In January and February, 35.3 million tonnes of imports and 26 million tonnes of exports were handled at ports nationwide. The former represented an annual increase of 14 percent while the latter was as same as that last year. In particular, nearly 1.3 million TEUs for exports and 1.2 million for imports were handled during the period, up 32 and 16 percent, respectively, year-on-year; the highest growth since the pandemic began. Meanwhile, the arrival of domestic vessels totalled 5,300, up 11 percent year-on-year./. Quang Ninh’s Van Don airport reopens on March 3 The Ministry of Transport has decided to allow Van Don International Airport in the northern province of Quang Ninh reopen from 6:01am on March 3 after the COVID-19 pandemic has been put under control in the locality and the airport is safe to transport passengers. The airport was temporarily shut down from January 29 after an airport security staff was confirmed positive for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that causes the COVID-19 pandemic. The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines announced earlier that it will resume flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Quang Ninh on March 3, thus becoming the first to restart flights to the Van Don airport since the local COVID-19 outbreak began. From March 3 to 17, one weekly flight will ply the route between the two destinations, on Wednesdays. Flight numbers will be increased to three a week, on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, from March 18 until the …
Dependents of veterans exposed to agent orange
WHO warns Vietnam to guard against H5N8 bird flu strain
Russian authorities have reported seven poultry farm workers aged 29 to 60 years infected with the A(H5N8) strain of avian influenza, also known as bird flu. This is the first reported detection of this strain of avian flu in humans, WHO stated. All seven individuals worked at a poultry processing plant and were therefore exposed to infected birds. None of the infectees have presented respiratory symptoms and remain healthy, according to WHO, which added there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission of avian influenza H5N8, and that the risk of an outbreak among humans remains very low. The strain is a subtype of the influenza A virus that causes flu-like symptoms in wild birds and poultry. Outbreaks of the H5N8 strain have been reported in Russia, Europe, China, the Middle East, and North Africa in recent months. In Vietnam, the monitoring program of the Department of Animal Health has not detected the circulating strain of H5N8. However, from 2021, the department would increase testing in the national avian influenza surveillance program. Dr. Pawin Padungtod, senior technical coordinator of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Vietnam, said technically, the H5N8 virus strain shares antigenic characteristics with the H5N6 strain circulating in Vietnam. Therefore, the current avian flu vaccine used in Vietnam still works against the H5N8 strain. To prevent H5N8 influenza infection, FAO and WHO recommended breeders strengthen biosecurity measures in the breeding area, comply with poultry vaccination schedules, report unusual cases of poultry deaths and not allow visitors to enter farms. The two avian flu virus strains, H5N6 and H5N1, that have been detected in the country, spread from poultry to humans through contact with infected feces or other bodily fluids, and can prove fatal. …
[Read more...] about WHO warns Vietnam to guard against H5N8 bird flu strain
World News in Brief: March 3
* Indian government ministers and officials were following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's lead by opting for an Indian-made vaccine instead of the AstraZeneca one. * Thailand may celebrate its traditional new year Songkran as usual around mid-April, Culture Minister Itthiphol Khunpluem said Wednesday. * China's annual coal output will stand at no higher than 4.1 billion tonnes by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), after it climbed 1.4 percent year on year to 3.9 billion tonnes in 2020, said a report issued by the China National Coal Association on Wednesday. * President Joe Biden said on Tuesday the United States would have enough COVID-19 vaccine for every American adult by the end of May. * The European Union aims to increase the region's COVID-19 vaccine production capacity to 2-3 billion doses per year by the end of 2021, Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton was quoted as saying. * German Chancellor Angela Merkel was expected on Wednesday to agree a gradual relaxation of curbs with regional leaders, but the rules can be tightened again if infections jump. * Australia will seek the support of the defence forces in its immunisation drive, as it looks to ramp up a vaccination rollout programme that is running behind schedule. * More than 3.5 million people have been vaccinated in Chile against COVID-19 almost a month after the start of a mass inoculation campaign, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday. It said in a communique that a total of 3,512,326 people have been vaccinated in the country, with 2,259,013 over the age of 60. * OPEC and other oil producers, a group known as OPEC+, are considering rolling over production cuts into April instead of raising output as oil demand recovery remains fragile due to the coronavirus, three OPEC+ sources told Reuters. OPEC+ ministers hold a full meeting on Thursday. * Indonesia, with the world's third biggest rainforest area, reduced the rate of deforestation by 75% last year by …
