Heath workers take care of COVID-19 patient

The 256th patient is a 52-year-old man residing in Van Lam district, northern Hung Yen province. On March 27, he returned home from Russia on Flight SU290 and was quarantined upon his arrival.

Meanwhile, the 257th is a 15-year-old student from Hanoi's Me Linh suburban district. She just stayed at home. On March 20, Patient 243 visited her father and talked for a while. On April 8, the new patient showed some symptoms like fever and runny nose. One day later, her sample was taken and the result on April 10 turned out to be positive to the SARS-CoV-2. Her father tested negative to the virus.

On April 10, 16 patients were declared fully recovered.

Sixteen COVID-19 patients recover, total reaches 144 

Nine patients, including three foreigners, were treated at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases.

At Bac Ninh General Hospital, Patient 74 (male, 23, Vietnamese) has also recovered after being admitted on March 18.

At the Ho Chi Minh City Children's Hospital, Patient 204 (male, 10, Vietnamese) was hospitalised on March 18. During treatment, the patient tested negative three times for SARS-CoV-2.

Patient 135 has also recovered at Da Nang Hospital.

At Binh Thuan General Hospital, Patient 36 (female, 64, Vietnamese) and Patient 44 (male, 11, Vietnamese) were both admitted to the hospital on March 11. During treatment, they tested negative three times for SARS-CoV-2.

At Cu Chi COVID-19 treatment hospital in HCM City, Patient 157 (female, 31, British) and Patient 171 (female, 19, Vietnamese) have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 three times.

All 16 patients will continue to be quarantined and monitored for the next 14 days.

As of April 10 afternoon, Vietnam had confirmed 257 COVID-19 patients and no fatalities.

Hanoi strives to minimise losses to COVID-19: official

Politburo member Vuong Dinh Hue, Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee

Hanoi is striving to bring damage caused by COVID-19 to the lowest by taking concerted measures devised by the Government and local authorities, said Politburo member Vuong Dinh Hue, Secretary of the municipal Party Committee, at an online meeting on April 10.

The event aims to seek ease setbacks for bussiness, production and public investment disbursement, and guarantee social order and welfare amid the complicated developments of the pandemic.

Hue said the capital had pleded to the Prime Minister and the Government that it will coordinate with ministries and departments based in the city to drastically implement preventive measures and  promptly support people who are subject to the Government’s preferential policies.

Regarding the city’s socio-economic situation in the first quarter of 2020, the official reported that albeit an array of difficulties caused by the disease, Hanoi recorded year-on-year growth of 3.72 percent and collected about 72.6 trillion VND (3.1 billion USD) to the State budget (26.5 percent of the total estimate).

Earlier this year, Hanoi transferred 650 billion VND to the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies to offer loans, create jobs, and boost rural development and other infrastructure works.

Other categories such as food, medical equipment manufacturing, and information technology have also been promoted, especially online public services.

At the meeting, Hue suggested the Government direct the Ministry of Transport to put into use the Cat Linh-Ha Dong urban railway at an early date, as well as other key transport projects.

He proposed the Prime Minister allow the city to apply a specific mechanism of site clearance as in the southern hub of Ho Chi Minh City.

The ASEAN Post: Vietnam is exemplary response to COVID-19

Spraying disinfectant to prevent the spread of coronavirus

Despite limited resources, Vietnam has been taking proactive measures in tackling COVID-19, said an article posted on The ASEAN Post on April 9.

Compared to other ASEAN member states such as Malaysia and Indonesia which have thousands of infections and numerous deaths, Vietnam’s number of cases is relatively low, according to the article.

The country with a population of over 95 million is one of the three ASEAN countries which have yet to report any fatalities from the disease alongside Laos and Cambodia, the article said.

The article cited Vietnam’s Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long as assuring the public and media that there is no shortage of test kits to diagnose the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

Apart from 200,000 rapid COVID-19 test kits bought from the Repulic of Korea, Vietnam has also successfully produced its own test kits which could help diagnose the virus infection in just an hour, the article said.

Earlier, the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada said “Vietnam has successfully conducted tracing via the quick identification of infectious contacts based on the Ministry of Health’s classifications of infected, suspected, and exposed cases of COVID-19 and the rapid mobilisation of health professionals, public security personnel, the military, and civil servants to implement the tracing.”

Other than that, Vietnam has also imposed strict monitoring of suspected infections. The country’s health ministry has worked with tech-firms to develop an online reporting system in which suspected and confirmed cases of COVID-19, as well as people who were in close contact with them, are entered into a database available in real time.

Furthermore, Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications has introduced a mobile app called NCOVI to allow the public to declare their state of health on a daily basis.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) had also applauded Vietnam for its swift response in handling the new coronavirus.

Italy thanks Vietnam for support in COVID-19 fight

At the event

Italy’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Luigi Di Maio has sent a letter to Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, expressing his profound gratitude to the Vietnamese Government and people for their support to Italy’s fight against COVID-19.

Di Maio wrote that the widespread solidarity shown at multiple levels proves the depth of the relationship between the two countries.

The Italian Government is steering all efforts towards containing the spread of the virus, taking care of those affected, and addressing the dire consequences stemming from the global pandemic, he wrote, adding that Vietnam’s help will undoubtedly contribute to the success in these endeavors and ultimately assist Italy on its road to recovery.

Italy’s Minister of the Interior Luciana Lamorgese, meanwhile, also sent a letter of thanks to Minister of Public Security, General To Lam.

She expressed her profound thanks to the ministry for its solidarity with Italy in these challenging times, which is evidence of the sustainable cooperation between the two countries.

She wrote she hoped that, when conditions allow, she may meet with General Lam to discuss issues of shared concern in order to further boost bilateral ties.

Earlier, on April 7, Deputy Foreign Minister To Anh Dung handed over the token of 550,000 made-in-Vietnam anti-bacterial masks to various European countries in support of the fight against the pandemic.

$4.3 million USD donated to support COVID -19 fight

At the event

The Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) on April 10 handed over 100 billion VND (4.3 million USD) to support the health sector in the fight against COVID -19 pandemic in Vietnam.

The money is part of a 133 billion VND (5.7 million USD) fund raised from donors via 2.2 million text messages to support a fundraising campaign for COVID-19 prevention and control in Vietnam from March 19 to April 9.

At the handover ceremony, Deputy Health Minister Truong Quoc Cuong thanked organisations, agencies and individuals for their support to the health sector, and said that the money will be used to purchase medical equipment and supplies for medical facilities directly working on epidemic prevention and control across the country.

The campaign was launched by the Central Committee of the VFF, the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Ministry of Health and the Vietnam Red Cross Society. Each text message sent to 1407 will contribute at least 20,000 (0.86 USD) to the fund.

Vietnamese in France support COVID-19 fight

Health workers treat a COVID-19 patient in Vietnam

The Vietnamese community in France has held a number of activities to support poor people affected by COVID-19 at home.

The association of Vietnamese people in France and the international association for Vietnam’s education development in France have raised 5,000 EUR (5,473 USD) and 100 million VND (4,292 USD) respectively in response to the call by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc for fighting the pandemic.

The Government leader on March 17 called on every Vietnamese citizen, especially businesspeople and overseas Vietnamese, to make donations to help contain the pandemic and also maintain socio-economic development.

He praised individuals and enterprises for donating money, contributing their time, efforts, experience and practical initiatives.
Such donations help promote unity, safety and humane actions among the community, the PM said.

“No matter how old the donors are or what they do, these meaningful actions all start from their hearts… I believe that Vietnam will be able to push back the pandemic, bring lives back to normal and recover production,” he said.

Dong Thap supports Cambodian province with medical equipment against COVID-19

Dong Thap Military High Command supports Pray Veng with 1,000 medical face masks, one box of hand sanitisers, and 30 cartons of instant noodle.

Chairman of the Dong Thap province People’s Committee Nguyen Van Duong presented a large volume of medical supplies and necessities to Cambodia’s Pray Veng province to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, during an event held at Dinh Ba international border gate on April 10.

The Mekong Delta province's People's Committee donated 30,000 medical face masks and 3,000 bars of soap to the Cambodian counterpart.

Meanwhile, the provincial Fatherland Front chapter presented 2,000 medical face masks, 5,000 cloth face masks, and 500 hand sanitisers.

The local Military High Command supported the Cambodian province with 1,000 medical face masks, one box of hand sanitisers, and 30 cartons of instant noodle.

The provincial Border Guard High Command donated 1,000 face masks, 50 hand sanitisers, and 30 cartons of instant noodle.

At a meeting between the two sides’ leaders, they agreed to strengthen cooperation and share information to prevent the pandemic from spreading in the shared border areas.

Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia work to combat COVID-19

In Jakarta, Indonesia

Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on April 10 decided to extend the Movement Control Order by more two weeks till April 28, several days before the Ramadan festival of Muslims.

In a speech telecast live on national television, the PM said the decision is based on feedback from the Health Ministry and medical experts in order to cope with COVID-19 and prevent the risk of its re-emergence.

Malaysia has so far recorded a total of 4,346 infection cases, 1,828 of them have recovered and 68 deaths.

Also on April 10, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen announced several changes to travel limit order, which was issued a day earlier, in order to prevent the epidemic spread.

Accordingly, travel ban between the capital Phnom Penh and its southern Kandal province was lifted.

The Southeast Asian nation has so far posted 119 infection cases, 72 of them have recovered.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's police, soldiers and public order officers took the streets of Jakarta on April 9 midnight to enforce the capital city’s tough social distancing measures for an estimated two weeks.

Violators could face hefty fines or one-year jail term.

According to the Indonesian Health Ministry, Indonesia recorded 3,512 infection cases and 306 deaths as of April 10.

Nestlé Vietnam supports COVID-19 fight with over 515,000 USD

Nestlé Vietnam has provided food, nutrition drinks, and cash of over 5 billion VND to the Fatherland Front chapters in cities and provinces, and the Vietnam Women’s Union Central Committee. (Source:VGP)

Nestlé Vietnam, a nutrition, health and wellness company, has donated 12 billion VND (515,129 USD) to the COVID-19 fight in the country.

It also launched a programme encouraging people to pursue a healthy lifestyle and join hands to overcome the pandemic.

Over the past time, the firm has coordinated with La Vie company, a subsidiary of Nestlé Group, to implement a wide range of activities to support doctors, nurses, public security and military forces, and volunteers who are on the front line of the battle against disease.

So far, Nestlé Vietnam has provided food, nutrition drinks, and cash of over 5 billion VND to the Fatherland Front chapters in cities and provinces, and the Vietnam Women’s Union Central Committee.

In the coming weeks, the company will donate nearly 7 billion VND to support anti-COVID-19 activities.

Close to 300,000 relief packages and medical face masks will be sent to hospitals, health centres, functional forces and volunteers in some localities nationwide.