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Two more people die of COVID-related complications Đà Nẵng closes off beaches and sit-in dining again as new COVID-19 outbreak emerges Việt Nam confirms 293 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday IPs in Dong Nai take measures to prevent COVID spread from HCM City Two severely ill patients die of COVID-19 complications A street in HCM City is almost empty as the city imposed stricter measures for pandemic control. VNA/VNS Photo Hồng Giang HÀ NỘI — A total of 300 local COVID-19 cases were reported on Sunday in nine localities, the Ministry of Health announced. HCM City topped the list of most infections with 137 followed by Bắc Giang Province with 96, Đà Nẵng City with 27, Bắc Ninh Province with 19, Bình Dương Province with 13, Nghệ An Province with five, and the provinces of Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Nam and An Giang with one each. Among the new cases, 281 were detected in quarantined or locked-down areas. On the same day, the ministry reported 11 imported cases which were quarantined upon arrival in Tây Ninh, Thái Bình, Kiên Giang and Bình Dương provinces. Twenty-one provinces of Yên Bái, Quảng Ngãi, Quảng Ninh, Quảng Trị, Thừa -Thiên Huế, Tuyên Quang, Sơn La, Ninh Bình, Thanh Hóa, Thái Nguyên, Hưng Yên, Hải Phòng, Tây Ninh, Gia Lai, Bạc Liêu, Điện Biên, Đắk Lắk, Đồng Tháp, Trà Vinh, Thái Bình and Vĩnh Phúc have not reported any new community cases for the last 14 days. As of Sunday evening,  Việt Nam has recorded a total of 11,513 local and 1,698 imported cases. There have been 9,943 cases since the fourth wave of infections hit the country on April 27. Stricter measures On Sunday, HCM City decided to ban public gatherings of more than three people as part of its latest measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, according to news.gov.vn. People must keep a distance of at least 1.5 metres from each other in public places and only leave home for emergencies, to buy food or …

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From Terry Hartney From Ton Anh Thu From Nguyen Khanh Duong From Phuong Ngo From Vu Ngan Binh By Paul Kennedy Good journalists love good stories. They get excited by them. When it comes to news, size really does matter. The bigger, the better. In a career that started for me in the May of 1990, I have been fortunate enough to have reported on some of the biggest stories in the world. But most are tinged with sadness. Like the tragic story of James Bulger, a toddler murdered by two 10-year-old boys in Liverpool in 1993. A story I covered extensively both at the time of the senseless killing and in the years that followed. Or the aftermath of the 7/7 London bombings when in the summer of 2005 I spent a week in Leeds, England, researching the terrorists responsible for the atrocities for the biggest national newspaper in Britain. I’ve also written countless stories about the Hillsborough football tragedy and was on the scene in Warrington, England, within an hour of two IRA bombings that killed two children. From a journalistic perspective these were good stories to cover, yet at the same time particularly harrowing. Professionally speaking, it is not a reporters’ job to get upset, their job is to accurately report what is happening, but it’s tough not to be affected. While working for Việt Nam News back in February 2019, I was proud to be part of the team covering what was at the time, the biggest story in the world. Thankfully there was no death or destruction. For me the excitement began months before when rumours surfaced that the summit between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the United States of America might be held in Việt Nam. I wanted to be part of it. After confirmation it would not only be held in Việt Nam, but in Hà Nội, I was buzzing. I felt like I did all those years ago when my name first appeared in a newspaper alongside a story I had written. The thrill …

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Selling via online platforms helps The Coffee House retain its customers during the pandemic. Vietnamese people spent more than $2.28 billion on tea and coffee in 2020. — Photo courtesy of The Coffee House Despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, competition between coffee chains in Viet Nam has become increasingly fierce with more giants trying to grab a slice of the lucrative market. Masan, owned by billionaire Nguyen Dang Quang, Novaland of Bui Thanh Nhon and Tran Kim Thanh's Kido have all heated up the billion-dollar market by entering recently. In May, The Sherpa, a company owned by Masan, purchased 20 per cent of Phuc Long Joint Stock Company, which owns the Phuc Long brand, one of the country's most famous tea and coffee chains. As the firm spent US$15 million on the deal, the Phuc Long chain was valued at $75 million, a number that surprised many people, according to some insiders. Set up in Bao Loc City, Lam Dong Province in 1968, Phuc Long expanded into the retail beverage business in 2012 from its three traditional stores in HCM City in the 1980s. Currently, the firm has 60 stores in HCM city and seven in other localities. After the deal, VinCommerce, another Masan member company, will set up a kiosk serving Phuc Long’s products at its chain VinMart+, which has more than 2,200 stores across the country. Earlier, realty firm Novaland Group launched a new ecosystem of Nova Consumer to develop the food, beverage and nutrition segment with a closed food production chain from farm to fork. The group has invested more than $200 million to bring together many famous consumer brands in its ecosystem, including PhinDeli coffee. Last year, Vietnamese people spent about VND53 trillion ($2.28 billion) on tea and coffee, a growth rate of about 10 per cent annually, an extremely attractive number for chains. Local brand The Coffee House opened 24 stores in the first quarter of this year and plans to open at least another 50 this year to increase …

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