Oxfam distributing hygiene kits to people in Yemen amid the coronavirus crisis. Photo: Wael Algadi Oxfam today called for a package of nearly $160 billion in immediate debt cancellation and aid to fund a Global Public Health Plan and Emergency Response and help prevent millions of deaths as a result of the coronavirus.The five-point plan of this Global Public Health Plan and Emergency Response would enable poor countries to take action to prevent the spread of the disease and build up the capacity of health systems to care for those affected. The pandemic has caused widespread suffering in rich countries, overwhelming some of the best healthcare systems in the world. However, with the disease now spreading to many poor countries where high levels of poverty and inequality threaten to accelerate the disease, the public health challenges are even greater. Nearly three billion people across the developing world do not have access to clean water, while millions more do not have access to adequate healthcare and live in crowded slums or refugee camps where social isolation is impossible. As women make up 70 per cent of health workers and carry out most unpaid care work, it will hit them the hardest. Jose Maria Vera, Oxfam International Interim executive director, said that in Mali there are three ventilators per million people. In Zambia, there is one doctor for 10,000 people. “We know from Oxfam’s experience of fighting Ebola that with rapid action, this disease can be stalled and its catastrophic impact stopped. But we must act now and, on a scale never seen before,” he said. “Without urgent, ambitious, and historic action, we could easily see the biggest humanitarian crisis since World War II.” The Imperial College London estimates that in the absence of intervention, the coronavirus could have led to 40 million deaths in the coming year. Oxfam calculates that doubling the health spending of the 85 poorest countries, home to nearly half of the world’s …
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VIETNAM NEWS HEADLINES MARCH 1
Vietnam logs no new COVID-19 infections on March 1 morning Vietnam documented zero COVID-19 infections in the past 12 hours as of 6:00 am on March 1, leaving the national tally unchanged at 2,448 patients, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control. Earlier, Vietnam reported 16 COVID-19 cases at 6pm on February 28, including 12 locally infected cases in the northern province of Hai Duong, the country's largest COVID-19 hotspot, and four imported cases in the southern provinces of Tay Ninh and Dong Thap. Of the total infections, there were 1,542 domestically-transmitted cases, including 849 recorded since the latest outbreak hit the northern province of Hai Duong on January 27. Ten cities and provinces nationwide have gone through 16 consecutive days without any locally-infected cases of COVID-19, including Hoa Binh, Dien Bien, Ha Giang, Binh Duong, Hung Yen, Bac Giang, Gia Lai, Bac Ninh, Quang Ninh, and Ho Chi Minh City. Meanwhile, Hanoi has recorded 14 straight days of no coronavirus cases. A total 60,693 people who came in close contact with COVID-19 patients or arrived from pandemic-hit areas are under quarantine nationwide, including 560 at hospitals, 12,298 at other quarantine sites, and 47,835 at home. Among patients under treatment, 62 have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 once, 53 twice, and 95 thrice. Report from the Treatment Sub-committee showed that Vietnam has seen 1,876 recoveries so far. In a bid to live safely with the pandemic, people should strictly follow the Ministry of Health’s 5K message: khau trang (facemask), khu khuan (disinfection), khoang cach (distance), khong tu tap (no gathering), and khai bao y te (health declaration)./. Hai Duong dissolves COVID-19 treatment hospital No.1 Chairman of the Hai Duong provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duong Thai, who is also head of the provincial Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, on February 27 decided to …
VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS MARCH 1
Vietnam Rubber Group to raise natural rubber output under its own brand A worker collects latex from a rubber tree (Illustrative photo: VNA) The rate is expected to hit 92 percent by 2022. The VRG has built a set of standards and introduced VRG-branded rubber products since 2018, bolstering consumption of its products along with Vietnam’s rubber brand in the international market. VRG-branded products reached 255,407 tonnes last year, accounting for 68 percent of the group's total output, from just 20,790 tonnes recorded in 2018. The VRG reported 21.17 trillion VND in revenue and 5.23 trillion VND in post-tax profit in 2020, year-on-year increases of 6.9 percent and 36.4 percent, respectively./. CPI in February highest in 8 years Vietnam’s consumer price index (CPI) in February was up 1.52 percent over the previous month and 0.7 percent year on year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO). This is the highest February CPI growth recorded in the last eight years. However, the index in the first two months decreased 0.14 percent year-on-year. Compared to the previous month, an upturn was seen in the prices of ten out of 11 main groups of goods and services, with housing and construction materials taking the lead (4 percent). It was followed by food and catering services (1.61 percent); transport (1.55 percent); drinking and tobacco (0.9 percent); garment and textile, headwear and footwear (0.25 percent). The price of education services remained stable compared to the previous month. The GSO’s Price Statistics Department explained that the CPI in February saw a strong rise due to the higher demand for food and foodstuffs for the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival. The prices of medicine and medical supplies in January-February increased by 0.88 percent compared to the same period last year, the price of gas in the month climbed 3.05 percent year-on-year. There were a number of reasons for the decrease in CPI in the last …
