Vietnam reported 136 new COVID-19 cases, including 133 domestic ones, in the past six hours to 6pm on June 17, according to the Ministry of Health.

Bac Giang province and Ho Chi Minh City each logged 62 cases, while Bac Ninh had six, Ha Tinh two and Lang Son one. Of them, 131 infections were found in quarantine facilities and sealed off areas.

As of June 17 evening, Vietnam documented a total 12,150 COVID-19 cases, including 10,483 locally transmitted ones. The number of cases since April 27, when the latest resurgence began, amounted to 8,913.

On the day, 63 patients were given the all-clear, bringing the number of recoveries to 4,653. The death toll stood at 61.

Among active patients undergoing treatment at medical establishments, 407 have tested negative for coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 once, 114 twice and 65 thrice.

Twenty-four provinces have gone through 14 consecutive days without new cases.

As of 5pm on June 17, the COVID-19 vaccine fund had received nearly 5.7 trillion VND (248.23 million USD) from 316,466 organisations and individuals, its managing board announced.

In a bid to live safely with the pandemic, the Health Ministry has called on citizens to follow the 5K message, including khau trang (facemask), khu khuan (disinfection), khoang cach (distance), khong tu tap (no gathering), and khai bao y te (health declaration), to help contain the outbreaks./.

Vietnam wins silver at Asian Taekwondo Champs 2021

Anh Tuyet wins a silver medal at the Asian Taekwondo Championships 2021.

Vietnamese martial artist Nguyen Thi Anh Tuyet on June 16 secured a silver medal during the Asian Taekwondo Championships 2021 which is taking place in Beirut, Lebanon.

In the semi-finals of the women’s 57kg category, Tuyet successfully defeated Lo Chia-ling of Taiwan (China) who had previously beaten her during the qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics.

However, the Vietnamese athlete lost in the final game against an opponent from the Republic of Korea to ultimately finish the competition with a silver medal.

The 24th Asian tournament has attracted 337 athletes from 28 countries, and it is due to last through June 18.

Vietnam has sent three martial artists to participate in the competition, namely Truong Thi Kim Tuyen in the 49kg category, Ho Thi Kim Ngan in the 53kg category, and Nguyen Thi Anh Tuyet in the 57kg category.

COVID-19: 220 new cases raise tally to 12,014

The national tally of COVID-19 infections rose to 12,014 after 220 new cases, including eight imported cases, were confirmed in the last six hours to 12pm on June 17, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH).

Of the domestically-transmitted cases, 178 were found in Bac Giang, 30 in Ho Chi Minh City, two in Tien Giang, and one each in Ha Tinh and Nghe An.

So far, Vietnam has logged a total of 10,350 domestically-transmitted cases and 1,664 imported cases. The number of COVID-19 cases since April 27, when the latest outbreak began, amounted to 8,780.

The ministry said the number of recoveries reached 4,590, while the death toll was 61.

Among active patients undergoing treatment, 390 have tested negative to coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 once, 91 twice, and 44 thrice.

Since April 29, over 4.99 million people across the country have received COVID-19 testing.

Twenty-four provinces that were hit by the pandemic have gone through 14 days without new infections./.

Vietnam, Cambodia conduct joint maritime patrol

The Vietnam People’s Navy and the Royal Cambodian Navy co-organised the 63rd annual joint maritime patrol on June 14-15.

Ship 251 from Naval Region 5 of the Vietnam People’s Navy and Ship 1142 from the Naval Base of the Royal Cambodian Navy participated in the patrol.

The patrol focused on search and rescue operations, and combating pirates, smuggling and trafficking of drug, weapons and explosives, as well as maritime flag and lamp signal training.

The two sides also exchanged information about COVID-19 to take measures against illegal entry./.

First Vietnamese economic journal included in ESCI list

The English version of the Journal of Asian Business and Economic Studies (JABES-E) has been included in the list of Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI).

This is the first economic journal of Vietnam to enter the list, according to Prof. Dr. Nguyen Trong Hoai, Editor-in-Chief of JABES at the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City.

The ESCI was launched in late 2015 by Thomson Reuters as a new database in Web of Science.

This index was produced by Clarivate Analytics since 2017, which includes over 7740 journals from various areas of research.

Journals included in the ESCI cover all disciplines and range from international and broad scope publications to those that provide deeper regional or specialty area coverage.

Web of Science Core Collection content is uniquely selective and indexing is uniquely consistent. Every article and all cited references from every journal have been indexed, creating the most comprehensive and complete citation network to power both confident discovery and trusted assessment.

Seven publications of JABES-E have been published by Emerald Publishing so far, with 58 research studies by 132 authors from 25 countries worldwide. /.

Police officer tests positive for SARS-CoV-2 in Vietnam

A communal police officer has been diagnosed with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the fifth case in central Nghe An province, according to the provincial Centre for Disease Control (CDC).

The man, 28, who resides at Golden City Building of Nghi Phu commune, Dien Chau district, tested positive on June 16 evening after having close contact with his brother, a COVID-19 patient.

The patient, a member of a local ID card working team, was said to have contacted many people in seven communes of Dien Chau district.

The Nghe An provincial administration moved to mobilise hundreds of healthcare workers and police officers to Dien Chau to carry out contact tracing and quarantine.

Preliminary epidemiological investigations show more than 6,000 people had come into close contact with the patient.

Nghe An also decided to impose social distancing on Dien Chau district, starting from 00.00hrs on June 17.

At present, Nghe An province has recorded five COVID-19 cases, including four in Vinh City which is also under a social distancing order.

Two more Japanese metro trains due to arrive in Ho Chi Minh City

A container ship carrying an additional two trains for Ho Chi Minh City’s metro line No. 1 has departed Japan and is scheduled to dock at Khanh Hoi Port in the city’s District 4 on June 20.

A train prepares to leave Japan and is set to arrive in HCM City on June 20.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR), both trains are set to be transported to the Long Binh Depot in Thu Duc City as soon as they arrive.

Previously three out of the metro line's 17 trains, consisting of a total of 51 carriages, were delivered to Vietnam from Japan.

Each train will be made up of three carriages and will be able to carry a total of 930 passengers.

The train is designed to run at a maximum speed of 110 km/h along elevated sections and 80 km/h on underground sections.

The US$1.9 billion route which connects Ben Thanh Market in District 1 and Suoi Tien Theme Park in District 9 is 19.7 km long and will have 14 stations, including three underground. 

Approximately 86% of work has been completed, and the line is anticipated to be put into commercial operation at some point next year.

Vietnam makes biggest surprise at 2022 World Cup Asian qualifiers: FIFA

Vietnam proved the biggest surprise packages by sealing maiden progression to the third round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers, FIFA affirmed in its article summarising the second round’s results.

The second round saw the emergence of Vietnam, the article wrote. “Having reached the last eight in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, the team continued to make progress on the continental stage under coach Park Hangseo”.

Entering the back-end of the campaign as group leaders, the Vietnamese registered back-to-back victories against Indonesia and Malaysia and advanced as one of the best second placed finishers, despite narrowly losing to hosts UAE 3-2 in the concluder, it added.

FIFA also commended striker Nguyen Tien Linh. “A host of players announced stepped into the spotlight to help their respective teams through. Notable among them was 23-year-old striker Nguyen Tien Linh, who struck four times, including scoring the match-winning goal in the first-leg meeting against UAE, to help his side achieve breakthrough progress,” it wrote.

Prestigious statistics firm We Global Football assessed the chance for Vietnam to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup is 4.44 percent.

Among the 12 teams, Vietnam’s chances are just higher than China’s at 3.68 percent and Lebanon’s at 1.88 percent.

The third round is scheduled to take place from September 2, 2021 to March 29, 2022.

The draw for this round will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on July 1 instead of June 24 as initially scheduled./.

HCM City's COVID-19 cases top 1,000 on Wednesday, Deputy Health Minister dismisses new variant rumour

A further 423 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Việt Nam on Wednesday, comprising 414 domestic and nine imported ones, according to the Ministry of Health.

Of the locally transmitted infections, Bắc Giang logged 279 cases, HCM City 99, Bắc Ninh 27, Hà Tĩnh four, Nghệ An three, Hà Nam one and Bắc Kạn one.

With 414 domestic cases, Wednesday saw the second highest daily increase. May 25 with 444 cases remains the day with the highest number of new locally-transmitted cases since April 27, marking the fourth wave of COVID-19 in Việt Nam.

The number of confirmed cases in HCM City in the fourth wave on Wednesday topped 1,000, after the city recorded 99 cases today, the highest number since the pandemic began earlier last year

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyễn Trường Sơn, who is leading the ministry’s special task force to support HCM City in COVID-19 prevention and control on Wednesday dismissed information that the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the city is due to a new variant of coronavirus.

Sơn said that the ministry verified with HCM City’s Pasteur Institute and could confirm that cases in the city were infected with the Indian B.1617.2 variant, also known as the Delta variant, according to the results of genetic sequencing for samples taken from COVID-19 patients in the city.

The health ministry today also worked with Việt Nam Vaccine Company to take the 288,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine the manufacturer delivered on May 25, 2021, to be distributed to outbreak hotspots in the country.

Of the 45 locally-transmitted cases reported in HCM City on Wednesday evening, 12 cases have not had sources of infection identified while the other five cases related to the church cluster and two related to HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases and 26 cases are F1 of earlier confirmed cases.

Of the locally transmitted cases on Wednesday, 398 cases were detected in quarantine sites or sealed-off areas.

The national tally reached 11,635, including 9,980 local cases and 1,655 imported cases. The number of COVID-19 cases since April 27, when the latest outbreak began, amounted to 8,410.

There were 4,590 recoveries as 47 COVID-19 patients were given the all-clear on Wednesday while the death toll remained at 61.

Twenty-four provinces have gone through 14 consecutive days without new cases. 

Vietnam to send 19-strong delegation to Tokyo Paralympics

Vietnam will send a 19-member delegation to the Tokyo Paralympics in the near future, said deputy head of the Vietnam Sports Administration under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Hong Minh.

During his working session with the Vietnam Paralympic Association in Hanoi on June 16, Minh said the delegation will comprise a leader, three officials, a doctor, three coaches and 11 athletes, including three in track-and-field, four in swimming and four in weightlifting.

Before their departure for Tokyo on August 18, they are required to take PCR tests for COVID-19 with negative results within 72 hours./.

COVID-19: 159 new cases recorded in 12 hours

Vietnam’s COVID-19 count rose to 11,794 after 159 new cases were found over the past 12 hours to 6am on June 17, according to the Ministry of Health.

Of the latest cases, one was imported and 158 were locally transmitted, with 87 in Bac Giang province, 45 in Ho Chi Minh City, 11 in Tien Giang province, seven in Binh Duong province, six in Bac Ninh province, and one each in Lang Son and Ha Tinh provinces.

Among the domestic infections, 156 were detected in quarantined or locked-down areas.

As of 6am on June 17, Vietnam’s domestic count stood at 10,138, and there were 1,656 imported cases.

As many as 8,568 cases have been recorded since the new outbreak began in the country late April, of whom 1,861 have been given the all-clear.

Twenty four cities and provinces that were hit by the pandemic have gone through 14 days without new infections.

The number of recoveries reached 4,590, while fatalities were 61, said the ministry’s Department of Medical Examination and Treatment.

Among the patients still under treatment, 340 have tested negative for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 once, 91 twice and 44 thrice.

A total of 182,462 people are under medical monitoring nationwide.

On June 16, 125,225 people received COVID-19 vaccine shots , raising the number of vaccinated people to nearly 1.8 million, of whom 72,325 have got two jabs./. 

Vietnam attaches importance to cooperation with Singapore

Vo Van Thuong, Politburo member and permanent member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat, has affirmed the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV)’s foreign policy of attaching importance to relations with neighbours, regional countries and strategic partners, including Singapore.

During a reception for newly-appointed Singaporean Ambassador Jaya Ratnam on June 16, Thuong lauded the positive development of Vietnam-Singapore relations across spheres over the past time.

Vietnamese and Singaporean leaders have maintained the exchange of visits, demonstrating the trusted political ties between the two countries, the official said.

Thuong also highlighted Singapore’s successful investment in Vietnam, helping the latter spur its socio-economic development, and suggested the two sides work to improve the quality and efficiency of Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIP).

He alos rejoiced at the strong development of the bilateral collaboration in education-training, and culture-tourism.

The two countries should join ASEAN member nations' efforts in settling regional issues in line with international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), he said.

For his part, the ambassador spoke highly of the fine development of the Vietnam-Singapore strategic partnership and noted his hope that the two countries will take measures to enhance the bilateral ties in the time ahead.

He suggested solutions to strengthen bilateral economic links, including improving the operational efficiency of VSIPs and encouraging Singaporean firms to increase investments in innovation, creation and digital economy in Vietnam.

The ambassador conveyed the invitation of Gan Kim Yong, Chairman of the Singaporean People’s Action Party, to the Vietnamese official to hold online talks at an appropriate time.

Thuong expressed his delight at the fruitful cooperation between the two Parties over the past time, thanked the invitation and assigned competent agencies to arrange the online talks./.

Online exhibitions satisfy art lovers amid pandemic

Admirers of art need not go out to visit crowded exhibitions amid the possibility of catching COVID-19. They can just stay home and view online exhibitions in an experience nearly the equal of actually being in a gallery. 

Photo Hanoi’21 is a project initiated by the French Institute in Hanoi. The project allows the audience to appreciate hundreds of photos from international photographers with just a click of their mouse.

Three exhibitions are now open under the project.

The first is “The Mekong - Stories of Man” by Vietnamese-French photographer Lam Duc Hien, who was born and raised on the banks of the Mekong River in Laos.

Hien captured his 4,200-km journey along the Mekong in hundreds of photos on display at the French Institute until September 12 and available for viewing online.

The two other exhibitions are “The time has come to rekindle the stars” by Punk Dragon and “Secret moments of maikos” by Philippe Marinig.

Both are physically on display at the Japan Foundation Centre for Cultural Exchange in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem district as well as online.

Photo Hanoi’21 was introduced in late April to satiate the needs of art lovers as the pandemic continues to make its presence felt./. 

COVID-19 vaccine fund raises over 241 million USD

As of 5pm on June 16, Vietnam’s COVID-19 vaccine fund received over 5.54 trillion VND (241.48 million USD) from 312,301 organisations and individuals.

The fund’s official website, www.quyvacxincovid19.gov.vn, has also been launched, aiming to facilitate online donations.

The fund is set up to receive, manage, and use voluntary financial and vaccine donations and assistance from domestic and foreign organisations and individuals, along with other legal sources, for the COVID-19 vaccine procurement and import, research and production in the country, and the provision of vaccines for people.

Managed by the Ministry of Finance, the not-for-profit fund will use the mobilised capital resources for right purposes and in line with legal regulations, ensuring publicity, transparency and efficiency. It is subject to the examination, inspection, and auditing by relevant State agencies and to the supervision by the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the community.

Vietnam needs 150 million doses of vaccines to administer about 75 percent of its population this year, with total cost amounting to 25.2 trillion VND (1.09 billion USD)./.

Draw for 2022 FIFA World Cup's third qualifiers slated for July 1

The draw for the 2022 FIFA World Cup's third qualifiers will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on July 1 instead of June 24 as initially scheduled, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced.

A special release of the FIFA Rankings for Asian teams will be revealed on June 18. Based on the rankings, the seeded squads for the draw will be decided.

The top 12 teams, including the hosts Qatar, which qualified for the third round will be drawn into two groups of six teams each based on the seeds. 

The final round of the Asian qualifiers will begin in September and end in March 2022.

Vietnam have made history as they advanced to the third round of the World Cup qualifiers for the first time ever, after a five-goal thriller against the hosts United Arab Emirates (UAE) on June 15 (local time).

Though they fell to a 3-2 defeat away to the UAE and lost top spot in Group G, Vietnam advanced as one of the five best group runners-up.

Vietnam are the sole representatives of Southeast Asia among the squads qualifying for the final round./.

One more hospital transformed to treat COVID-19 patients in HCM City

Trung Vuong Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City was transformed to treat COVID-19 patients from June 16 as an effort to have 3,500 beds dedicated to serve the treatment.

Accordingly, the 1,000-bed Trung Vuong hospital is ready to receive and treat positive patients.

Previously, the municipal Department of Health converted the function of Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases and Cu Chi District Hospital into hospitals specialising in treating COVID-19 patients. The HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases is providing treatment for 126 patients, while Cu Chi COVID-19 Treatment Hospital has received 192 others after only four days of operation.

On June 13, Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital was officially divided into two separate zones, with one treating patients with tuberculosis and the other treating non-tuberculosis lung diseases and receiving COVID-19 patients with severe clinical conditions.

Since then, the hospital has received 10 cases of COVID-19 with respiratory failures, transferred from Can Gio COVID-19 Treatment Hospital, thus helping reduce overloading for the HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases in the context that this hospital is temporarily locked-down as many of its medical staffs tested positive for SARS-CoV-2./.

Tra Vinh disburses 6.32 million USD for pandemic-hit people

The Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh has to date disbursed more than 145 billion VND (6.32 million USD) for pandemic-hit residents, announced the provincial People’s Committee.

There were over 150,300 beneficiaries, including people who contributed to the country’s revolutionary cause, the poor and laid-off workers without labour contracts.

The move aimed to help local people and businesses resume production and overcome the negative impact of COVID-19, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Le Van Han has said.

More measures to offset consequences of the pandemic will be rolled out in the coming time, he added.

The province also provided assistance to laid-off workers who are not eligible for unemployment allowance, and small-scale firms.

The provincial tax office extended deadlines for tax payments worth over 5.3 billion VND for about 30 local businesses. Meanwhile, financial institutions rescheduled debt settlement and exempted interests for 233 customers with total outstanding loans of 38.48 billion VND./.

Course on explosive ordnance disposal level 3 wraps up in Quang Tri

The Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) wrapped up a three-week training course on International Mine Action Standards Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Level 3 in the central province of Quang Tri on June 16.

Held for the first time in Vietnam from the late May, the course was the highest level in the country.

Among eight trainees, five come from Quang Tri, one from Quang Binh and two from Thua Thien-Hue. Prior to course admission, they held certifications for level-2 training.

Course instructor Paul Eldred, NPA Vietnam Technical Field Manager at Project RENEW in Quang Tri province, said the course is an affirmation of NPA Vietnam’s commitment with the provincial authorities to improve the qualification of selected programme staff.

“One of the key objectives of NPA is to ensure that Vietnam has qualified personnel capable of dealing with residual explosive ordnance in the long term”, he said.

Trainees will be observed, mentored and assessed for an additional six months following the completion of the course before receiving their certification.

Operational in Vietnam since 2007, NPA is a non-governmental organisation major in bomb and mine clearance and arms disarmament, as well as humanitarian development and support./. 

Cuba willing to cooperate with Vietnam in COVID-19 vaccine supply

Cuba stands ready to cooperate with Vietnam in the supply of Abdala COVID-19 vaccine produced by the Caribbean nation, and the transfer of vaccine production technology.

Cuban Minister of Public Health José Angel Portal Miranda made the statement during online talks with Vietnamese Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long on June 16.

Long thanked Cuba for its goodwill, saying the Vietnamese health ministry totally supports the cooperation.

The Cuban side also noted with pleasure the cooperative ties between the two countries, and pledged to closely coordinate with Vietnam to ensure successful collaboration./.

Vietnamese expats in Australia join anti-pandemic efforts at home

The Vietnamese community in Australia has raised funds in support of the fight against COVID-19 in their homeland.

The Vietnamese entrepreneurs’ club in Australia collected 430 million VND (18,570 USD) within one week to assist the combat.

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese students’ association said it has raised funds worth 17.5 million VND and will continue to call for donations from overseas Vietnamese in the time ahead.

Many Vietnamese citizens and associations have also directly sent their donations to Vietnam’s COVID-19 vaccine fund.

As of 6pm on June 16, Vietnam logged a total of 9,980 local infections and 1,655 imported. There were 8,410 new cases from April 27 when the fourth wave of the pandemic began, 1,816 of them were given the all-clear.

There were additional 155 COVID-12 cases in the past six hours to 6pm on June 16, 149 of them were found in quarantine and locked-down areas and the remaining were imported, reported the Health Ministry./.

Vietnam urges countries to unite, enhance int’l cooperation to fight terrorism

Ambassador Pham Hai Anh, Deputy Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the United Nations, has told a UN Security Council meeting that the most important factor in fighting terrorism today is to unite, intensify international cooperation, support countries and regions to strengthen their capacity of detecting, preventing and combating international terrorism, as well as help countries to sustainably recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, and ensure equitable access to vaccines.

Addressing the virtual Arria-formula meeting on “the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international efforts to prevent and counter terrorism and violent extremism” on June 16, Anh emphasised the need to solve the root causes of terrorism through economic development, national reconciliation, and building a society that is just, tolerant and self-resistant to terrorism and extremism.

It is also necessary to ensure that counter-terrorism measures are consistent with the fundamental principles of the UN Charter and international law, he noted.

The Arria-formula meeting was organised by Tunisia in cooperation with Estonia, France, Ireland, Kenya, Niger, Norway, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the UK, and Vietnam.

Assistant Secretary-General Michèle Coninsx, who is Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), stated that the long-term socio-economic impacts of the pandemic will create favourable conditions for terrorism, especially in countries with fragile political and economic situations.

She said that the post-pandemic anti-terrorism policies should ensure the gender factor and focus on equal distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, while calling for increased coordination of global efforts to combat terrorism and ensure an inclusive, equal and respectful approach to human rights and dignity.

Delegates affirmed their commitments to maintaining solidarity against terrorism and extremism, and stressed the need to guarantee basic human rights in combating terrorism, facilitate access to humanitarian aid, and strengthen national capacity and the role of regional organisations, and support the role of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) and CTED./.

Korean firm contributes 10 billion VND to COVID-19 vaccine fund

President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Do Van Chien on June 16 received 10 billion VND (some 431,700 USD) from the Republic of Korea’s Hyosung Vietnam Co. Ltd. to Vietnam’s COVID-19 vaccine fund.

Expressing gratitude for the donations of foreign companies in Vietnam, Chien described the support as a great encouragement for the country to push back the pandemic and resume production soon.

Chien said that in order to complete the goal of delivering COVID-19 vaccine to over 70 percent of its population, Vietnam needs 150 million doses of vaccine at an estimate cost of about 25.2 trillion VND (1.09 billion USD), with about 16 trillion VND coming from the central State budget and the remainder mobilised from local budgets, businesses, organisations and individuals.

So far, the fund has received over 5 trillion VND (about 219 million USD) from agencies, organisations, businesses and donors, he noted.

The VFF will allocate the resources in a most effective manner, he said, stressing the significance of the consensus and support of the community to the Party and State’s pandemic prevention and control policies.

Pham Minh Cao, chief representative of Hyosung Vietnam in the northern region, said that the firm hopes to join hands in fighting COVID-19 so that production and business activities will run normally.

Cao hoped that the company’s contribution will help Vietnam realise the target of conducting massive COVID-19 vaccinations in 2021 and assist pandemic-hit localities in buying medical equipment.

The same day, the VFF Central Committee also received 1 billion VND from officials and employees of the Ministry of Construction to the COVID-19 vaccine fund.

Deputy Minister of Construction said that the contribution is part of the ministry’s response to the call from the Party, State and VFF in COVID-19 prevention and control.

Also on June 16, Vice President of the VFF Central Committee Truong Thi Ngoc Anh received 596 million VND from the Trade Union of the Vietnam Television and 200 million VND from the Echo Vietnam Co. Ltd. donated the COVID-19 vaccine fund, along with goods worth of 19.1 million VND from Blossom21 project to support Tan Yen district of Bac Giang province, and 58.5 million VND from the Vietnamese Society of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgery to assist COVID-19 prevention and control activities./.

Hanoi calls for donations to COVID-19 vaccination programme

Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Chu Ngoc Anh and Chairwoman of the city’s Fatherland Front Committee Nguyen Lan Huong have called on local organisations, businesses and people to donate to the city’s COVID-19 vaccination programme.

In a letter jointly issued on June 16, Anh and Huong said they want organisations, businesses and residents of Hanoi to share the responsibility with the city by contributing money and resources to the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.

This aims to help the city soon achieve herd immunity against the virus and bring life back to normal, the letter said.

This year, the COVID-19 pandemic has resurged with more complex and unpredictable developments, forcing the city to drastically undertake comprehensive measures in order to fulfill the twin goals of combating the virus and sustaining economic growth, it said.

More than ever, the COVID-19 fight needs support from the entire political system, business community and people in Hanoi to begin the local free vaccination campaign, poised as the long-term strategic solution for the current situation, it added.

Hanoi will host a show called “Hanoi chung tay hanh dong day lui dich COVID-19” (Hanoi joins hands to fight COVID-19) at the Friendship Culture Palace at 8:00pm on June 19. It will be broadcast live./.

Social distancing imposed in Nghe An localities following Covid-19 outbreak

Social distancing measures have been implemented in Vinh City and Dien Chau District in the central province of Nghe An since Wednesday midnight for Covid-19 prevention.

The decision was made by chairman of the provincial people’s committee Nguyen Duc Trung at a meeting on Wednesday on Covid-19 prevention and control activities.

At the meeting, Duong Dinh Chinh, director of the local Department of Health, the province recorded four Covid-19 patients on April 13-16, with three in Vinh City and one in Dien Chau District.

Local authorities are tracing people who had close contact with Covid-19 cases and have blocked many areas. Some Covid-19 patients had met many people and visited different areas so the province is facing a high risk of the pandemic outbreak.

Social distancing in Vinh City and Dien Chau District is in line with the government’s Directive 15.

New airport to be built in Ba Ria-Vung Tau

The southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau plans to build a new airport on Go Gang Island.

Go Gang Airport, which covers an area of 248.5 hectares in Long Son Commune, has a total investment of VND9 trillion (USD391 million), including VND1.25 trillion for the site clearance.

The current Vung Tau Airport, covering 172 hectares in the city, is mostly used for helicopters serving logistics and oil and gas services.

Located right in the centre of Vung Tau City, Vung Tau Airport has directly affected local people’s life and the environment.  

Experiencing rapid urbanisation, Vung Tau needs more land for infrastructure construction, while the airport occupies a large area. So it is necessary to relocate the airport out of the city centre.

Go Gang Island was approved for airport construction by the government in 2019.

Go Gang Airport will serve both military and civil purposes.

Chairman of Ba Ria-Vung Tau People’s Committee Nguyen Van Tho has asked the provincial Department of Transport to cooperate with concerned agencies to complete a report on the airport construction which will be submitted to the Ministry of National Defense for consideration.

Earlier, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province asked the prime minister for approval to upgrade Co Ong Airport on Con Dao Island and add Ho Tram airport to a list of projects to be developed by 2030.

The upgrade project is aimed at meeting the rising air travel demand to and from Con Dao Island and boost its socioeconomic development.

Meanwhile, Ho Tram Airport to be invested in by Ho Tram Ltd. Co will help improve access to the Ho Tram Strip resort in the province for domestic flights.

Source: VNA/VNS/VOV/VIR/SGT/Nhan Dan/Hanoitimes

VIETNAM NEWS HEADLINES JUNE 16

155 new COVID-19 cases recorded in past six hours to 6pm