Two month old

Walking their dog after dinner has always been a favorite daily activity of Tho Pham and his wife, a Vietnamese couple who live with their 39-year-old son in Garden Grove City, California. But not in the last few months as the wave of anti-Asian violence and harassment has terrified him. "I do not dare go out without my children because I am afraid someone will knock me to the ground or stab me to death just because I am Asian," he laments, adding that the hate crimes have disrupted his daily life. Many other Vietnamese share his apprehension, especially older people. Wally Ng, a member of the Guardian Angels, patrols with other members in Chinatown in New York City, New York, U.S., May 16, 2020. Photo by Reuters. Violence and hatred directed at Asian Americans, which also includes mugging, have surged across California since the beginning of the Covis-19 pandemic as Asians are blamed for its origin in Wuhan, China. Videos of an Asian woman being punched in the face on a subway platform and a Thai man being pushed to the ground in San Francisco have sparked fears, and the Vietnamese community is traumatized. Hoai Nguyen, a housewife in San Jose, home to the largest Vietnamese population in America, says: "It is annoying and scary when you go out and have to keep looking behind your back to see if you are being followed by someone suspicious." She has been called "coronavirus" several times while walking and shopping, but she had not expected the discrimination and hatred to turn violent and even murderous. Last month the Vietnamese community in San Jose was shocked after a 64-year-old woman was robbed in front of Dai Thanh Supermarket during the Lunar New Year holidays. Nguyen says with a sigh: "I cannot do that (go out) on my own because they may kill me. How weak I am and how cold-hearted those people are." Since older people are targeted, no one is comfortable letting their parents or grandparents go out alone though the first …

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A doctor examines a hepatitis patient at Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The Ministry of Health has reported that nearly one million Vietnamese people are infected with the hepatitis C virus ( HCV ). According to recent statistics by the Preventive Medicine Department, 20,000 people die of liver cancer each year in Vietnam, of which untreated hepatitis B and HCV are the leading causes of cirrhosis and liver cancer. Ninety percent of people with HCV are not aware of the infection. It is often called a ‘silent killer’ because it has no obvious symptoms but can be extremely dangerous and, in some cases, life threatening, medical experts said. The ministry said the number of deaths caused by hepatitis B and C was the same as the number of people dying from HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in Vietnam. There are vaccines to prevent hepatitis A and B, however, there is no vaccine for HCV. There are many new medicines that bring the cure rate up to 95 percent. However, due to high cost, many infected people do not have access to new drugs and have to live with it, leading to cirrhosis and liver cancer . Many new drugs which are effective in treating hepatitis C are not covered by health insurance, causing difficulties for patients, said Nguyen Van Kinh, Director of the Central Tropical Hospital. Hepatitis C patients in Vietnam account for about 7 percent of the population but only 0.1 percent (6,000-8,000 patients) of them have access to treatment. “The Ministry of Health allows using new drugs in HCV treatment in Vietnam and the rate of recovery can be up to 90 percent. It also has fewer side effects and the time of treatment and costs are reduced,” Kinh said. At present, the average cost for a stage of treatment was 45 million VND over three months, nearly a third cheaper than that for old medicines, he said. Kinh also suggested the new drugs should be covered by public health insurance so hundreds of thousands …

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Vietnam records six new COVID-19 infections on March 6 evening Vietnam logged six new COVID-19 cases on March 6 evening, all in northern Hai Duong province, the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control reported. All the new patients had been previously quarantined and are being treated at a COVID-19 treatment hospital in Hai Duong province. By the evening of March 6, Vietnam had recorded a total of 2,507 COVID-19 patients, including 1,584 domestically-transmitted cases. Up to 891 domestic infections have been detected since the third wave of outbreaks hit the country on January 27. The Treatment Subcommittee said that 1,920 patients have recovered from the disease to date, while the number of deaths related to COVID-19 was still kept at 35. Among active patients undergoing treatment, 65 tested negative to the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 once, 57 twice and 137 thrice. As many as 49,565 people who had close contact with COVID-19 patients or entered Vietnam from pandemic-hit regions are currently under quarantine nationwide, including 1,290 in hospitals, 14,199 in other establishments and 34,076 at home. 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)./. Hanoi police summon attackers against foreign women Attackers at the police station (Photo: VNA) They also confessed to commit the act as reported by victims. The same day, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh also asked the municipal People’s Committee to direct competent agencies to promptly verify behaviours of harassment against women around the West Lake as recently reported by the media. Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Chu Ngoc Anh requested local police to seriously punish offenders and take measures to prevent similar occurrence. …

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