Health standing board

COVID-19 testing (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Health has proposed considering COVID-19 a Group A infectious disease , not an endemic disease in its latest draft on COVID-19 prevention and control measures in the new situation. Per the draft, Vietnam is still in the transition period between pandemic prevention and sustainable management. Regarding the reason why COVID-19 has not been considered an endemic disease in Vietnam yet, the Ministry of Health said that most countries in the world are in a state of unstable cases and deaths, with an erratic increase and decrease trend when new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus appear. At the same time, acquired immunity (due to vaccines and infection) has not been stable for a long time and decreases over time. As a result, the application of epidemic prevention and control measures should be flexible and gradually moves towards the "new normal". The announcement of the end of the COVID-19 pandemic in … [Read more...] about Health Ministry yet to consider COVID-19 endemic disease

A report by Hanoi People's Committee on June 20 revealed 532 medical personnel had quit last year, while 82 decided to switch workplaces. In the first four months of this year, 226 have quit and 17 switched workplaces, the report added. Hanoi said the medical field has focused all its resources on fighting the pandemic since 2020. Due to the low number of workers, the sheer amount of workload and lower incomes and benefits in public facilities, many are opting to quit or seek better opportunities. Hoa, the former head of a ward medical station in Dong Da District, said her workload was too much while her salary wasn't enough to make a living. She quit at the end of March. During the height of the pandemic, Hoa and her colleagues did contact tracing and vaccination day in and day out. Pressure was building up, yet they only got a "bonus" of VND500,000 ($21.50). Her colleagues, a married couple, only got VND8 million a month in total. Amid a worker exodus in the medical field and … [Read more...] about Hanoi health workers quit in droves over heavy workload, low pay

Administering the fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine to medical staff in the northern province of Ninh Bình. — VNA/VNS Photo Hải Yến HÀ NỘI — If Việt Nam declares the end of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, it will meet many difficulties in pandemic prevention and control and be hit by slower economic recovery, the Ministry of Health (MoH) has said. Under the latest draft plan on COVID-19 prevention and control in the new situation, which is waiting for input from the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 prevention and control, ministries, provinces, cities and experts, the MoH said that the pandemic situation has basically been controlled nationwide. However, the pandemic situation is still complicated in many countries and is even increasing again in some. The virus is constantly changing and recording new variants, which could potentially cause a strong outbreak on a large scale, beyond the health system’s capacity. Latent risks The SARS-CoV-2 virus has constantly … [Read more...] about Ministry of Health explains reasons for not announcing end of COVID-19 pandemic

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son visits and encourages a pediatric patient who is under dengue fever treatment at District 8 Hospital on June 27. Up to now, the city recorded a total of 18,976 dengue cases, an increase of 151.6 percent over the same period with 7,542 cases, comprising 311 severe cases. After a week, the rate of severe patients to the total number of dengue cases was 1.6 percent, an increase of over four times over the same period with 33 out of 7,542. This week, 21 districts and Thu Duc City in HCMC excluding District 12 are facing a dengue fever “emergency” with 2,548 cases, up 611 cases over the past four weeks and a death related to the disease rising total death to ten from the beginning of the year to now. At that time, there were 825 hand, foot, and mouth disease cases, a decrease of 217 cases over four weeks ago. By the 25th week, HCMC had a total of 7,634 infections with hands, foot, and mouth disease. By Thanh An- Translated by Huyen … [Read more...] about Number of weekly dengue cases in HCMC continues to rise

The Ministry of Health yesterday said that the country recorded 769 new Covid-19 infectious cases on June 28, increasing 132 cases over the previous day in 37 localities. The whole country had 9,505 recovered cases and three deaths related to the disease. Signing for commitment would show the higher role of residents in pandemic prevention and control in the new normalcy and under the appearance of new variants. In addition, Deputy Head of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology Duong Thi Hong confirmed the importance of booster doses. During the passing time, the country had over 40 million Covid-19 doses for the third one and over 3.4 million doses for the fourth one which had been performed safely. People should get vaccinated for durable immune. By Quoc Lap- Translated by Huyen Huong … [Read more...] about Signing for commitment to vaccination shows people’s responsibility

Synopsis The new guideline cuts the length of mandatory quarantine for overseas travellers to seven days plus three more of home monitoring -- a drastic drop from about 21 days of quarantine and home monitoring combined. Related Indians visiting Malaysia can now get visas on arrival Canada says no test results needed for vaccinated travelers Indian tourists are flocking back to Australia. Here's why China on Tuesday reduced the length of mandatory quarantine for inbound travellers, in the biggest relaxation of entry restrictions after sticking to a rigid zero Covid policy throughout the pandemic. The new guideline cuts the length of mandatory quarantine for overseas travellers to seven days plus three more of home monitoring -- a drastic drop from about 21 days of quarantine and home monitoring combined. China closed off its international borders at the beginning of the pandemic and the number of international flights is still tightly restricted in … [Read more...] about China halves quarantine time for overseas travellers

Vietnam will keep a close eye on the emergence of new strains. Vietnam has detected imported BA.5 Omicron sub-variant after conducting gene sequencing of newly confirmed patients' samples, according to Dr. Phan Trong Lan, director of the General Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health (MoH). Lan underscored that initial research showed the Omicron sub-lineages BA.4 and BA.5 spread faster than the old sub-variants (BA.1 and BA.2). There has been no specific evidence of the new sub-variants’ virulence, but some studies indicated that there is an aggravation in the African region. However,  the director confirmed that Omicron sub-variant BA.2 still remains the dominant one in the country. “The emergence of new strains is inevitable as a result of border reopening and the new normal situation, in which precautionary protocols are relaxed,” Lan said. He added that the BA.5 sub-variant was first detected in South Africa in January. Since then, it has … [Read more...] about BA.5 Omicron sub-variant detected in Vietnam

Tôn Thanh Trà, General Director of Chợ Rẫy-Phnom Penh Hospital, gives a health check-up to a patient at the hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. — VNA/VNS Photo HÀ NỘI — One evening, doctors at Chợ Rẫy-Phnom Penh Hospital received a red alarm from the Emergency Department. A female patient had arrived in the emergency room in a state of confusion. She had trouble speaking and paralysis on the right side of the body. After examination and the necessary tests, doctors diagnosed the patient as suffering a stroke caused by atrial fibrillation and tachy-brady syndrome. After consultation, it was decided the patient needed a permanent pacemaker. The surgery was performed that night. It was incredibly successful. The patient was in stable health condition and discharged from the hospital four days later, to the joy of family and relatives. This was one of the thousands of timely life-saving cases that Vietnamese doctors successfully performed at the Chợ Rẫy- Phnom Penh Hospital in … [Read more...] about Vietnamese doctors gain Cambodian people’s trust

In the first six months of 2022, Vietnam Airlines has resumed flights to 14 countries and territories, including the UK, France, Germany, Australia, the US, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Lately, the airline has opened a new route to India and is preparing the necessary conditions to immediately reopen flights to China, Myanmar, and Russia when the conditions permit. The national carrier is expected to resume flights to Indonesia in July and key international routes to Japan, Korea, and Australia in November at the same flight frequency as in 2019. It hopes that it will be able to restore the entire international flight network, equivalent to that in 2019 by the end of 2023. The gradual restoration of international flight routes is an opportunity for Vietnam Airlines to improve the usage efficiency of resources, increase revenue, improve production and business results, reduce losses, and aim at profits in the following years. … [Read more...] about Vietnam Airlines plans to restore its entire flight network by the end of 2023

Video footage shared on social media showed the orangutan struggling in the water before sinking below the surface at the Safari Phu Quoc in the southern island on June 24. A zoo employee threw in a life buoy before jumping into the pool himself to save the orangutan. He managed to bring it ashore and performed chest presses as first-aid. The orangutan has survived and is in stable health now, a zoo representative said. The zoo has erected signs to warn visitors not to feed animals, except certain species. However, many ignore the warnings, the representative said. The Safari Phu Quoc is a semi-wild zoo spanning 380 ha. It is home to around 3,000 animals, including 175 species of birds, mammals and reptiles. … [Read more...] about Orangutan nearly drowns after zoo visitor throws food into pool