Obituary about a community leader

The Hanoitimes - Hanoi is entering a more intense phase of the fight against the coronavirus and it challenges the city's efforts if secondary transmission is not well managed. Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung of the Hanoi People’s Committee has repeated the call on local residents to stay at home “as much as possible” to avoid contagion of the new coronavirus which is sweeping every part of the world. Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung of the Hanoi People’s Committee. Photo: Thanh Nien Locals should stay limit outdoor activities from now until April 5, and when out people need to wear facial masks, practice social distancing of at least two meters, and move in one way direction at supermarkets, the mayor said at a meeting late on March 23. The reason is that Hanoi is at high risk of pandemic contagion in the next two weeks that is the incubation period (the time between exposure to the virus and the appearance of the first symptoms). Vietnam has applied mandatory 14-day quarantine to all people, both Vietnamese and foreigners, coming from overseas since March 21. Before that, only people who came from or travelled across epidemic-hit areas, were infected with the virus or those in close contact with the infected were required to undergo quarantine, implying potential risks of transmission in the community. The Ministry of Health has called on passengers of 21 flights carrying virus-infected people to contact health authorities for free tests and further instructions. “This time is very important for the city to prevent secondary transmission or face multiple inflections if we failed to contain the virus,” Chung stressed. Sources of contagion Hanoi is facing three main sources of contagion namely those coming from China, South Korea, and Japan; foreigners and students from Europe and epidemic-hit countries; and foreigners and students who arrive in and return to Vietnam. Hanoi is estimated to welcome around 20,000 people returning to the …

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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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The Hanoitimes - If no swift action is taken to handle the outbreaks in the community, it is very likely that the pandemic would spread out. Vice Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Chu Xuan Dung has requested relevant units to apply urgent measures to curb Covid-19 disease from spreading as Hanoi may continue to record new Covid-19 cases in the community in the time ahead. "The Steering Committee for Covid-19 prevention and control from municipal to communal level must strictly comply with the Prime Minister's instructions and the tasks specified in the Hanoi mayor’s telegram," Mr. Dung said. Medical staff takes student’s samples for Covid-19 testing in Xuan Phuong Primary School in Nam Tu Liem district. Photo: Thanh Dat The vice chairman emphasized that if no swift action is taken to handle the outbreaks in the community, it is very likely that the pandemic would spread out. Deputy Director of the Hanoi Center for Disease Control (CDC) Truong Quang Viet said that his center has found ways to increase capacity of Covid-19 testing and will ensure this work. As there are numerous people coming back from the Hai Duong and Quang Ninh, the epicenters of the outbreak, more coronavirus carriers would be confirmed in the coming time, Mr. Viet said, adding that the Hanoi CDC recommends all suspected cases should immediately contact the health sector for testing. The time from now until the Lunar New Year festival is the peak time to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, leaders of the Ministry of Health as well as the People's Committee of Hanoi called on each citizen to be an anti-epidemic fighter. Hanoi closes schools for online teaching to curb spread of coronavirus On January 31, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training Pham Xuan Tien signed an official letter guiding schools in Hanoi to apply online teaching and learning in order to minimize the infection of novel coronavirus-caused …

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