The Vietnamese team bagged a bronze medal in the “Meridian” contest during its conclusion on August 29 in Moscow, Russia.

Hosts Russia led the rankings, followed by the Belarusian team, with Vietnam and China both ranking in third position.

Colonel Bui Yen Tinh, head of the Vietnamese Meridian Team, stated that the final result is a worthy outcome for the nation after taking part in a long training course both at home and abroad.

He thanked Russia for creating favourable conditions in which all teams could practice and get acquainted with the new environment and equipment in the host country.

The “Meridian” contest was held at the Alabino training ground and witnessed the participation of teams from six countries, including Vietnam, Russia, China, Belarus, Iran, and Laos.

Earlier, the Vietnamese combat ship team won a silver medal after finishing second in the “Sea Cup” contest.

The 2021 Army Games, hosted by Russia, is being held from August 22 to September 4 with a total of 260 teams from 45 countries and territories worldwide participating in the event and competing in 34 different categories.

This marks the fourth time that Vietnam has taken part in the games, competing in the largest number of contests so far.

Vietnamese chemistry team performs well at 2021 Int’l Army Games

The chemistry team of the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) performed well in the shooting event in the framework of the “Safe Environment” category of the ongoing 2021 International Army Games.

Each contestant had to hit the targets within 6-8 seconds from a distance of 100-350m.

At the competition held on August 29, despite unfavourable weather and location, the Vietnamese team came second only after the host China.

Of note, only three foreign contestants earned perfect scores at the event, with two of them being Lieutenant Nguyen Duc Son and Sub-Lieutenant Pham Van Hoa of Vietnam.

At present, the team is placed third in the overall rankings. It will enter the final event of relay on August 31.

Later, the organising board will announce the first, second and third runners-up in the “Safe Environment” category.

The Vietnamese team, comprising 20 officers and soldiers, was divided into two groups and competed with their rivals from China and Belarus.

Also on August 29, Vietnam clinched a bronze medal in the “Meridian” competition.

In the final of the “Safe Route” category held in Russia’s Tyumen province on August 29, Vietnam’s engineering team ranked third, with a time of 55:40.

On the same day, with an overall time of 1:21:25 and bringing down 11 out of 15 targets, the Vietnamese tank crew teams ranked ninth out of 11 squads competing at the “Tank Biathlon” category.

Although the crew did not advance to the semi-finals, its time improved compared to that of 1:44:18 in 2020.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Dang Minh Khoi extended his congratulations to the crew, stating that the team has obtained remarkable results in its first time at the Group 1 of the category with strong rivals.

The Army Games 2021 with competitions in 36 categories is taking place in 12 countries and territories. Vietnam is due to host the Military Medical Relay Race and Sniper Frontier contests.

This is the fourth time Vietnam has taken part in the games, competing in the largest number of contests so far./

Binh Duong extends social distancing as COVID-19 cases keep rising

The southern province of Binh Duong has decided to continue applying social distancing measures under the Prime Minister’s Directive 16 in “red zones” for 15 days while "freezing" 15 wards in Thuan An and Di An cities and Tan Uyen township as COVID-19 infections have continued surging over the past days.

The southern industrial hub reported a record of 5,414 new cases on August 29, pushing the province's count in the fourth wave of infections to over 104,000. Its death toll has reached 819.

According to the provincial Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, Thuan An is the current biggest hotspot of the province with 3,341 new cases confirmed in the past 24 hours.

Binh Duong failed to complete its earlier goal of controlling the pandemic and bringing the province to a new normal from September 1. The extension of social distancing measures will give time for the province to speed up testing to detect infections in the community.

Local authorities in the “red zones” were asked to mobilise vehicles to transport goods to provide food and necessities for local residents.

Meanwhile, Secretary of the Binh Duong Party Committee Nguyen Van Loi requested relevant forces to promptly complete the construction of temporary hospitals for COVID-19 treatment in the province.

As scheduled, a 1,000-bed hospital in Lai Hung commune, Bau Vang district, is likely to be completed on August 30, while construction of another with capacity of 2,800 beds will be finished in the next few days.

At the same time, Thu Dau Mot city is operating dozens of quarantine facilities with a capacity of about 13,000 beds. Many existing establishments have been switched to temporary hospitals for treatment of COVID-19 patients.

The province has been working hard to speed up vaccinations for local residents. As of August 28, 865,441 doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been injected to locals, with 37,927 people fully receiving two shots./.

Hanoi offers over 33 million USD worth of financial aid to pandemic-hit people

Hanoi has so far offered financial aid worth nearly 750 billion VND (nearly 33.05 million USD) to 2.34 million disadvantaged households and people who are struggling to make ends meet because of COVID-19 impacts.

Of the total, close to 597 billion VND was sourced from the State and local budget while 153 billion VND was funded by the private sector, data from the municipal Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs shows.

The amount included more than 314.2 billion VND from the Government’s social welfare package which was granted to 1.58 million workers and employers affected by the pandemic.

Particularly, more than 80,000 informal workers across the city have received assistance worth over 120 billion VND./.

Medical bags support COVID-19 patients treated at home in HCM City

The Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs' Association (VYEA) and the Ho Chi Minh City Young Physicians Association have jointly launched a programme called “ATM - Medical bags” to support COVID-19 patients undergoing treatment at home in the city which has been hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Accordingly, patients have been provided with consultancy by doctors from the Ho Chi Minh City Young Physicians Association and given a package including various medicines to treat their symptoms, anti-inflammatory drugs and anticoagulants medicines.

The ATM - Medical Bag Programme is expected to contribute to easing pressure and overload at local hospitals.

Immediately after the launch, VYEA Chairman Dang Hong Anh donated 1,000 bags of medicines to the programme.

Many firms have joined the programme, including DoJi Group, Alphanam Group, ThangLong Invest Group, PHGLock. Leaders of the VYEA’s branches in Hanoi, Ha Giang, Ninh Binh and Thahnh Hoa also actively joined the programme./.

Over 16,000 experts, medical workers sent to southern region: Health Minister

More than 16,000 experts and medical workers have been deployed by the Ministry of Health to Ho Chi Minh City and southern provinces to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Minister Nguyen Thanh Long.

At an online meeting on August 29 of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control with 1,060 communes, wards and towns in 20 provinces and cities now under social distance measures, under the chair of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Minister Long also announced that the ministry has mobilized a large volume of equipment, ventilators, and medical supplies to send to these localities.

The ministry has established and operated effectively 11 resuscitation centres for patients in critical conditions in the southern region, with six in Ho Chi Minh City, contributing to reducing the mortality rate.

Regarding vaccination against COVID-19, as of August 26, 19 southern localities had been allocated with more than 12.3 million doses, of which about 10.5 million doses had been administered, including more than 9.9 million first jabs, Long stated.

Ho Chi Minh City alone had vaccinated more than 5.78 million doses (81.6 percent), including nearly 5.6 million first injections.

As of August 28, Vietnam had administered more than 19.2 million doses of vaccines against COVID-19./.

Hanoi to put 500-bed COVID-19 treatment hospital into operation on Sep. 1

A hospital providing treatment for severe and critical COVID-19 patients in Hanoi and northern localities will be put into operation on September 1 after one month of construction.

Located in Yen So ward, Hoang Mai district on an area of 3.5 hectares, the hospital has 500 beds and all rooms are equipped with a camera system to monitor patients' condition.

Hanoi to put 500-bed COVID-19 treatment hospital into operation on Sep. 1 hinh anh 2
The hospital seen from above (Photo: VNA)
As the second facility of the Hanoi Medical University Hospital, it will serve as a national COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) which will provide treatment for patients in severe and critical conditions and technical support for other COVID-19 medical facilities in the assigned areas.

The hospital plans to mobilize about 1,000 medical workers, including 272 doctors and 680 nurses.

Construction on the COVID-19 treatment hospital began on July 24./.

Hanoi intensifies COVID-19 control measures amid rising infections

The People’s Committee of Hanoi has required departments, sectors and localities across the city to intensify testing and tracing to filter COVID-19 patients out of the community, while preparing quarantine and treatment facilities to be ready for any circumstances.

According to the city Department of Health, in 12 hours to 6pm of August 29, the capital city recorded 133 new infections, including 4 found in the community. Since April 29, the city confirmed 3,091 cases, including 1,534 in the community.

On August 29, after three medical staff of the Agriculture General Hospital tested positive to SARS-CoV-2, the hospital was locked down to test more than 1,000 staff members and patients. Tracing activities have been carried out promptly, while notifications and guidance have been sent to those who have visited the hospital from August 14-28.

The same day, a concentrated quarantine facility with capacity of 500 people was opened in Kim Giang ward of Thanh Xuan district. It will operate until the pandemic is stamped out, with full equipment serving COVID-19 prevention and control.

Earlier on August 26, the city approved a plan to set up a 1,000-bed facility in Tran Phu ward of Hoang Mai district, to receive and treat COVID-19 patients showing no or mild symptoms./.

Quang Ninh hands over wanted Chinese man to China

Authorised agencies of the northern border province of Quang Ninh on August 29 handed over to the Chinese side a Chinese man on the wanted list who illegally entered and stayed in Vietnam.

Earlier on August 4, relevant forces in the province’s Mong Cai city and border guards detected a Chinese national named Xie Bin when they examined a house in Hai Yen ward. The man, born in 1996, did not have any legal immigration papers.

After investigation, police found that he was on the wanted list in China for cyber crimes.

Relevant agencies handed over the man to the Chinese side after a quarantine period in line with COVID-19 prevention and control measures.

They are further investigating those who had arranged for the Chinese criminal to illegally enter and stay in Vietnam./.

Vietnamese chemistry team performs well at 2021 Int’l Army Games

The chemistry team of the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) performed well in the shooting event in the framework of the “Safe Environment” category of the ongoing 2021 International Army Games.

Each contestant had to hit the targets within 6-8 seconds from a distance of 100-350m.

At the competition held on August 29, despite unfavourable weather and location, the Vietnamese team came second only after the host China.

Of note, only three foreign contestants earned perfect scores at the event, with two of them being Lieutenant Nguyen Duc Son and Sub-Lieutenant Pham Van Hoa of Vietnam.

At present, the team is placed third in the overall rankings. It will enter the final event of relay on August 31.

Later, the organising board will announce the first, second and third runners-up in the “Safe Environment” category.

The Vietnamese team, comprising 20 officers and soldiers, was divided into two groups and competed with their rivals from China and Belarus.

Also on August 29, Vietnam clinched a bronze medal in the “Meridian” competition.

In the final of the “Safe Route” category held in Russia’s Tyumen province on August 29, Vietnam’s engineering team ranked third, with a time of 55:40.

On the same day, with an overall time of 1:21:25 and bringing down 11 out of 15 targets, the Vietnamese tank crew teams ranked ninth out of 11 squads competing at the “Tank Biathlon” category.

Although the crew did not advance to the semi-finals, its time improved compared to that of 1:44:18 in 2020.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Dang Minh Khoi extended his congratulations to the crew, stating that the team has obtained remarkable results in its first time at the Group 1 of the category with strong rivals.

The Army Games 2021 with competitions in 36 categories is taking place in 12 countries and territories. Vietnam is due to host the Military Medical Relay Race and Sniper Frontier contests.

This is the fourth time Vietnam has taken part in the games, competing in the largest number of contests so far./

HCM City allows shippers to operate in COVID-19 “red zones” from August 30

The People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City has allowed shippers to resume operations in eight COVID-19 “red zones” under certain conditions from August 30.

The decision is part of the city’s efforts to ensure the supply of food and necessities for local residents during social distancing period.

Under a document sent to localities and businesses across the city, shippers can operate in eight red zones of Thu Duc city, Districts 8 and 12, Binh Tan, Binh Thanh, Binh Chanh and Hoc Mon districts.

The shippers must be vaccinated against COVID-19 and carry negative rapid COVID-19 test certificate. They will receive COVID-19 testing once a day in early morning by military medical staff in mobile medical stations in 312 wards, communes and townships across the city.

Shippers operating in the remaining 14 district should also receive at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccine and show their negative testing result, which is valid in two days, according to the document.

The municipal People’s Committee assigned the Public Security Department and Department of Industry and Trade to work together to decide the operation methods of the shippers, monitor their activities and handle violations.

The committee also asked the Public Security Department to issue about 20,000 travel permits to workers in retail sector to ensure goods supply for locals.

HCM City has been the largest COVID-19 hotspot in the country, with over 200,000 cases reported so far.

HCM City to offer support package to poor households as well as workers in need

HCM City will provide VNĐ1.5 million (US$65.5) each to 3-4 million workers' families facing difficulties because of the pandemic as part of a new support package worth nearly VNĐ2.6 trillion ($112.3 million).

This amount is in addition to a previous package of VNĐ900 billion ($39.2 million) that was targeted for poor and near-poor households, poor workers, and self-employed workers’ families. 

The two support packages will be disbursed by August 30.

According to Phạm Đức Hải, deputy head of the city’s Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, the city has about 53,000 poor and near-poor households with 170,000 people.

The number of people with reduced or no income in the city, however, has risen significantly. People with stable incomes have had to suspend work, take unpaid leave, or have lost jobs. 

The beneficiaries of the support packages will be extended to include these people.

If people in need of support have already received a social welfare package of food and essential items worth VNĐ300,000 ($13) each from local authorities, they will get VNĐ1.2 million ($52.5) in cash from the  support package.

Both permanent and temporary residents will benefit,  regardless of occupation. Local officials have been told to ensure that money is delivered in time and to the right people, and that no one misses out.

Travel permits

In another matter, Phan Công Bằng, deputy director of the city’s Department of Transport, said the department had issued more detailed guidelines on granting QR Code identification certificates to vehicles.

After receiving dossiers, the department will ensure that the results are returned to individuals and organisations within 24 hours via software or the social network Zalo.

The public has suggested granting travel permits to charity groups to help them easily provide food and essential necessities for people in difficult circumstances.

Senior Lieutenant Colonel Lê Mạnh Hà of the city’s Police Department said the city highly appreciated the charity work of individuals and organisations who were offering a helping hand to city authorities. However, the city could not issue travel permits to charity groups as travelling across the city could pose a risk of spreading the coronavirus to the community or even to themselves.

To strictly implement the current “stay-at-home” order, he said that charity groups should transfer their gifts to local authorities instead of handing them over directly.

Hà said that vehicles transporting oxygen cylinders, medicines, medical supplies and equipment would be allowed to pass checkpoints without a travel permit if the drivers show business registration licences or a document on pandemic prevention and control work. 

People going for vaccination and follow-up examination appointments, and for medicine, need to bring their and appointment papers and medical information to go through checkpoints. They do not need a travel permit.

The city has seen a 90 per cent reduction in traffic volume since the two-week stay-at-home order period started on August 23. 

Medical bags support COVID-19 patients treated at home in HCM City

The Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs' Association (VYEA) and the Ho Chi Minh City Young Physicians Association have jointly launched a programme called “ATM - Medical bags” to support COVID-19 patients undergoing treatment at home in the city which has been hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Accordingly, patients have been provided with consultancy by doctors from the Ho Chi Minh City Young Physicians Association and given a package including various medicines to treat their symptoms, anti-inflammatory drugs and anticoagulants medicines.

The ATM - Medical Bag Programme is expected to contribute to easing pressure and overload at local hospitals.

Immediately after the launch, VYEA Chairman Dang Hong Anh donated 1,000 bags of medicines to the programme.

Many firms have joined the programme, including DoJi Group, Alphanam Group, ThangLong Invest Group, PHGLock. Leaders of the VYEA’s branches in Hanoi, Ha Giang, Ninh Binh and Thahnh Hoa also actively joined the programme./.

Health declaration service integrated into safe tourism app

 

Mobile app “Du lich Viet Nam an toan” (Travel Vietnam safely) now allows users to fill in health declaration without switching to another platforms. (Photo: vietnamtourism.gov.vn)

 

Mobile app “Du lich Viet Nam an toan” (Travel Vietnam safely) now allows users to fill in health declaration without switching to another platforms, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

Connected with the health declaration management system operated by the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control, the new integrated service makes it easier and faster for users to complete the form online and helps authorities improve the effectiveness of the COVID-19 response.

Mobile app “Du lich Viet Nam an toan” was launched by the VNAT last October, and is available in both Vietnamese and English at http://vietnamtourism.gov.vn/live.

It provides users with a digital map containing information on restaurants, hotels, apartments, entertainment places, transport providers, hospitals and pharmacies.
Visitors can also look up information about the current COVID-19 situation in their intended destination including details about infection cases and the number of recovered patients there.

The app is under development with new functions expected to be added, including COVID-19 safety verification for tourism services providers, COVID-19 vaccine certification, digital map for safe travel, health records, travel insurance, and e-tickets.

As travel restrictions and border closure remain in place to curb the coronavirus spread, international tourist arrivals in Vietnam in the first eight months of 2021 nosedived 97.2 percent compared to the same period last year to just 105,000, most of whom are foreign experts and workers, according to the General Statistics Office./. 

Grey-shanked douc langur in Quang Ngai rescued

A grey-shanked douc langur in the central province of Quang Ngai has been handed over to Cuc Phuong National Park’s Endangered Primate Rescue Centre.

Earlier, when visiting Ca Dam Mountain in Tra Bong District, a man in Son Ha District saw the langur which was caught by a local resident. The man was then given the animal to be taken care of. After returning home, he informed local authorities who contacted the Endangered Primate Rescue Centre for the rescue.    

Staff from the centre quickly travelled the 1,000 kilometres from Ninh Binh to Quang Ngai for the rare animal rescue despite the pandemic.

Nguyen Dai, head of the provincial Forestry Management Board said that the langur was transferred to the centre on Sunday afternoon.

The grey-shanked douc langur, a species native to Vietnam, was included in the Vietnam Red Book’s list of endangered species. They live in the Truong Son Forest which overlaps the provinces of Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Kon Tum and Gia Lai. At present, around 1,000 langurs of this kind are living in Vietnam.

The grey-shanked douc langur is among 25 most endangered species in the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species.

Mekong Delta artists join fight against COVID-19

Artists in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho have been releasing songs and artwork about COVID-19 to encourage frontline forces and people to fight the pandemic.

COVID-19 has prevented Vietnamese artists from travelling around to find new ideas. However, the pandemic and related topics have become a popular source of inspiration for them over the past year and a half.

Songwriter Nham Hung wrote a vong co (nostalgic) tune which calls on the community to donate to the national COVID-19 vaccine fund. The song has gone viral, as well as his other songs, for sending positive messages to society. Hung said fighting COVID-19 is everyone’s mission, including musicians.

“I also wrote a song about the effort of soldiers in the fight against the pandemic, and another about people helping each other in difficulties," he said.

"All of my songs are for entertainment, but also to help raise people’s awareness of disease prevention and control measures and boost their spirit”, he added. 

Painter Tran Quy Thuan works on a painting about doctors in the fight against COVID-19. (Photo: VOV)
Over the past month, painter Tran Quy Thuan has created 4 acrylic-on-canvas works about medical workers fighting COVID-19. The paintings portray their hard work: swollen and flaky hands after long hours of working in gloves, a heart with a Vietnamese flag inside it drawn on a doctor’s chest, and a baby carrying his milk bottle getting ready to go to a quarantine camp. 

Thuan revealed that “I uploaded my paintings to social media and have received a lot of support," Thuan said,"Many people have shared my posts because we feel the same way about the frontline workers. We hope they stay strong and healthy to quickly contain the pandemic.”

Nguyen Thanh Kien, Chairman of Can Tho City's Union of Arts and Literature Associations, said local artists have been very active in contributing to the battle against COVID-19 with their artwork. The Union is publishing their work in online exhibitions and premiers.

"We have received more than 20 stories, poems, and songs from the artists, some of which will be published in this month’s episode of Can Tho Literary Magazine. We welcome more creative works that help spread information about COVID-19 prevention and control”, Kien noted.   

Fourth annual meeting of ASEAN Smart Cities Network to be held on August 30

The fourth annual meeting of the ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN) will be held in the form of videoconference on August 30 with the participation of 26 member cities, representatives from ASEAN countries, the ASEAN Secretariat and partners.

According to the Urban Development Department under the Ministry of Construction, the meeting will discuss and adopt several important documents on developing an ASCN information portal and a set of investment tools for sustainable smart cities in ASEAN.

The department said those documents will help strengthen the network’s operation and create a solid foundation for cooperation between the network and its partners.

The meeting will get updated on the development of smart cities in the network and share experience in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The network will discuss with partners the contribution of ideas on cooperation in promoting the realisation of smart cities.

The ASCN was established in April 2018 at the 32nd ASEAN Summit in Singapore. It currently has 26 member cities from the 10 ASEAN members. Vietnam has three representatives in the network, which are Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City./

Roads linking Hanoi's West Lake and National Convention Centre expanded

Lieu Giai and Van Cao streets which connect West Lake and the National Convention Centre in Hanoi will have four more lanes.

After the expansion work which was started in July, the two streets will have eight lanes of the same size as the Nguyen Chi Thanh and Tran Duy Hung streets. These four streets go straight from the West Lake area in Ba Dinh District and the National Convention Centre in Nam Tu Liem District.

With eight lanes, traffic has become easier on Lieu Giai and Van Cao streets which used to see constant congestion.

Despite difficulties in construction activities posed by the social distancing rules for Covid-19 prevention, the project has been given priority due to its important role.

According to an official from the Ministry of Transport, Dang Hong Quan, the project has been completed by 50 percent after a month of construction.

The expansion work is expected to be completed by the end of September. 

More than 16,000 experts, medical workers assigned to southern provinces

More than 16,000 experts and medical workers together with tonnes of modern health equipment have been assigned to HCM City and southern provinces to serve COVID-19 prevention and control.

The information was released by Minister of Health Nguyễn Thanh Long during an online conference on Sunday morning. The conference was chaired by Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính – head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control and involved 20 provinces and cities across the country.

Minister Long told participants that the pandemic is still at a complicated and critical stage, pointing out how HCM City and Bình Dương continued to see high numbers of new infections, with about 50 per cent of the new cases discovered in the community.  

However, he did say the situation was gradually being controlled in other southern provinces, with the number of new cases discovered in the community had been decreasing at a rate of between seven and 15 per cent.

In Hà Nội and central provinces such as Khánh Hòa and Phú Yên, the pandemic was also being controlled thanks to drastic measures and social distancing.

However, Long said, this was not the time to be complacent, as there was still a great risk of further outbreaks in the future.

Since July 19, 23 provinces and cities in the country implemented social distancing based on Direction 16.

Besides modern equipment, the Ministry of Health has created 11 resuscitation centres for serious patients in southern provinces. In HCM City alone, six centres with a large number of beds have helped reduce fatalities.

Minister Long said that by Saturday, more than 19.2 million doses of vaccines had been given to residents across the country.  

HCM City: Programme provides 10,000 medication bags to COVID-19 patients under home treatment

A programme presenting 10,000 medication bags for COVID-19 patients under home treatment in Ho Chi Minh City, the biggest pandemic hot spot at present, was launched by the city’s Union of Business Associations (HUBA) on August 28.

HUBA said there are more than 73,000 COVID-19 patients under home quarantine and treatment in HCM City, many of whom have encountered difficulties in accessing medication. Given this, the programme provides medication for them so as to help reduce the number of cases that get worse and need to be hospitalised, thus easing the overload at hospitals.

Each of the 10,000 medication bags contains six types of drugs along with detailed instruction on how to use the drugs.

They will be transferred to member associations of HUBA from August 28 to September 2 to deliver to disadvantaged patients via the grassroots healthcare network.

“Red-zone” areas that houses a large number of COVID-19 patients and workers will be prioritised by the programme, HUBA President Chu Tien Dung said, expressing his hope that the programme will receive more support from philanthropists and enterprises nationwide.

As of late August 28, Vietnam recorded 422,469 cases of COVID-19 in the fourth wave of infections began in late April, including over 200,000 in HCM City./.

Tuition fees to be exempted in pandemic and natural disaster hit areas

Provincial People’s Committees are allowed to consider the exemption of tuition fees for students within a specific period in the case of natural disasters and epidemics announced by competent authorities.

This is one of the provisions in Decree No. 81/2021 on the mechanism of collection, management and exemption of tuition fees, as issued by the Government on August 27.

According to the decree, when a natural disaster or epidemic occurs, the provincial People's Committee can propose the People's Council to exempt preschool children, high school students, and graduate students in the affected areas from tuition fees.

The period for tuition fee waiver will be considered depending on the extent and scope of the impacts.

General Vo Nguyen Giap through the lenses of his exclusive photographer

As the exclusive photographer of General Vo Nguyen Giap for 20 years, Colonel Tran Hong took thousands of photos of the General in his daily life.

General Vo Nguyen Giap has a special place in the heart of photographer Tran Hong. (Photo: VNA)
Hong’s photos captured some beautiful moments and some very simple moments of this legendary general, who commanded the Vietnam People’s Army during a critical time in its history.

A small room on the second floor at 3 Duong Thanh street, Hanoi, is where Tran Hong keeps his photos of General Giap, each carefully annotated and preserved. 

After graduating in 1973 from the Central School of Propagandizing and Training (now the Academy of Journalism and Communications), Tran Hong became a journalist for the People’s Army newspaper. In that same year, he met and photographed General Giap for the very first time.

Later, in the early 1990s, Hong went to General Giap’s house to ask for permission to take photos of him. The General’s secretary asked him to show his permission paper, but he didn’t have any. As he was about to leave, General Giap spotted him and invited him in. The General granted Hong an extraordinary favor: he told Hong he could take his photo anytime he wished. 

“I like taking portraits. I’m extremely fortunate to have been given the special favor of taking photos of the General. I think it was seeing my great passion that made him grant me that favor,” Hong recalled.

General Vo Nguyen Giap provided an endless source of material for Hong’s photography career, according to Colonel Hong.

“I spent a lot of time observing General Giap to catch his best moments. I wanted to show him, the legendary General, in a simple and intimate way. Though a great man, Vo Nguyen Giap led a simple life and was close to people. He was always ready to hear the opinions and ideas of people from different social strata. I wanted to depict that general, that personality, in my photos,” said Hong.

General Vo Nguyen Giap and his family celebrate the Mid Autumn Festival in 2008. (Photo: vietnamnet.vn)
Hong said in his eyes, General Vo Nguyen Giap was a perfect man, with a great talent and an admirable personality.

“It was very difficult to take photos of General Giap because he was so great, talented, and famous. One thing is for sure, though: he came across as a friendly, warm-hearted person in every photo. I have a lot of memories of General Giap, who I admire and respect tremendously. He said that pictures should always respect and reflect the truth,” Hong added. 

Tran Hong has had 12 photo exhibitions, 8 of them about General Vo Nguyen Giap. He says he is planning more exhibitions to share photos of the legendary General with more Vietnamese people and foreign friends. 

Promoting spirit of COVID-19 vaccine sharing

The dangerous spread of the Delta variant has caused many rich countries to boost their plans to offer a third COVID-19 vaccine shot.

However, the stockpiling of vaccines to serve their plans can cause the inherently scarce supply for poor countries to become increasingly limited while the spirit of sharing has always been upheld in the global anti-pandemic efforts.

According to announcements from countries, to date, at least 20 countries have implemented and approved the plans or issued recommendations on booster shots for those who have been fully vaccinated with two doses. Israel currently leads the campaign with over 70% of people age 60 and over and 44% of those between 50-59 having received a third jab.

The US plans to administer COVID-19 booster shots to Americans who completed their initial vaccination at least eight months ago. Over 100 million people in the US are expected to be eligible for immunisation by the end of this year. According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), three European countries decided on their start days while many others have officially recommended COVID-19 vaccine booster shots.

The countries have been aggressively providing COVID-19 vaccine booster shots amid the rapid spread of the highly contagious Delta variant that is difficult to control. Israel’s decision came as the number of vaccinated people being hospitalised has been tending to increase. US health officials proposed that the government begin offering third COVID-19 vaccine shots as soon as possible, stating that the effectiveness of the injected vaccines is gradually decreasing.

However, WHO said that the effectiveness of booster vaccine doses has not been confirmed and they are only necessary for certain people with weakened immune systems. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has not yet approved the booster shot due to insufficient data to conduct a scientific evaluation. The European Commission warned that EU countries that decide to administer third vaccine shots will face legal risks.

According to the head of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine maker, countries rushed to get third booster doses due to pressure to reduce risks; however, this is not necessary if there is no clear evidence of their effectiveness. The director of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) also warned that the immunisation of COVID-19 vaccine booster shots instead of sharing redundant vaccines is a miscalculation because this can create an “opportunity” for other variants appeared and spread more complicatedly.

A third injection for a person means denying a vaccination opportunity for another. In addition, the effectiveness of a third vaccine shot has not been clearly confirmed. The benefits of third booster vaccine shots are much smaller than the support for poor countries that have not yet accessed vaccine supplies. 

Technology - useful tool for battle against COVID-19

Facing the dangerous and highly contagious Delta variant in the fourth wave of COVID-19, relevant agencies are strongly utilising technology as a useful tool for large-scale contact tracing, testing, and vaccination management.

Technology now forms part of the current principle for COVID-19 prevention and control, which is “5K (khau trang - wearing facemasks, khu khuan - disinfection, khoang cach - keeping distance, khong tu tap - no gathering, and khai bao y te - making health declaration) plus vaccine and technology”.

It is expected to help the healthcare sector fight the pandemic more effectively and serve as a means for citizens to coordinate with authorities in COVID-19 prevention and control.

Nguyen Truong Nam, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Health (MoH)’s Information Technology Department, said in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the digital transformation era, IT has been increasingly applied to health care to better serve medical examination and treatment.

He noted many technological solutions are being used concurrently to help with the COVID-19 combat such as telehealth systems, Bluezone and NCOVI apps, and the COVID-19 vaccination management platform that includes an e-health record application, a COVID-19 vaccination information portal, a national vaccination support system, and a medical command centre.

Talking about the platform for COVID-19 vaccination management, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Huy Dung said this is the first time Vietnam has deployed such a national platform which can help obtain the “twin targets” of fast and mass vaccination, along with safety, effectiveness, and transparency to support management, supervision, and research activities.

Echoing the view, Do Cong Anh, Deputy Director of the Authority of Information Technology Application at the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), said in the COVID-19 vaccination management platform, each people is granted a QR code and an e-health record.

This QR code will not only assist the pandemic combat but also be helpful in carrying out services related to a digital government, digital economy, and digital society in the future, he added.

Nam affirmed that the proactive, timely, and appropriate IT application will be useful for the battle against epidemics, especially when COVID-19 is spreading fast.

Given this, the MoH has issued guidance for localities on IT application and coordinated with the MIC to deploy sets of IT application solutions to meet anti-pandemic requirements in the new context, the official remarked./. 

“Collecting a million Stars” programme launched to spread positive spirit in VN

The Central Committee of the HCM Communist Youth Union (HCYU) and the Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Co-operation (SABECO) have jointly organised the "Collecting Million Stars" virtual event to spread positivity.

The activity is a practical programme to honour National Day, and encourage fellow countrymen to join hands to support small food and beverage businesses in HCM City.

"Collecting a Million Stars" encourages innovative ideas from all Vietnamese residents, including artists, influencers, social communities, students, and youth union members. — Photo courtesy of the firm
Inspired by the five-pointed star on the Vietnamese flag, "Collecting a Million Stars" encourages innovative ideas from all Vietnamese residents, including artists, influencers, social communities, students, and youth union members.

The programme provides an opportunity for participants to express their creativity through daily activities such as cooking, makeup, home decorating, drawing, painting photography or anything that represents a star, as well as inviting their friends to participate, and sharing their stars on social media with positive messages to encourage the national frontline workforce.

 

SABECO's representatives joined the launch. — Photo courtesy of the firm
For every public post on social media that features a creative star image, accompanied with the hashtags #GopTrieuNgoiSao #DiLenCungNhau as well as tagging Bia Saigon Fanpage, SABECO and its Bia Saigon will contribute VNĐ10,000. The company will contribute to the first 300,000 valid posts.

All donations collected will go to hundreds of the most affected small food and beverage (F&B) businesses in-need in HCM City where each outlet will receive support worth VNĐ5 million in cash. Bia Saigon and HCYU will review and agree on the criteria for selecting the beneficiaries.

Recently, the HCYU’s Central Committee has implemented many meaningful activities to support hospitals and frontline forces in the fight against COVID-19 as well as the most impacted households.

The most recent is the “Community Care” programme in collaboration with SABECO. Following a similar spirit,  "Collecting a million stars" is aimed at small business households who are suffering from losses due to the pandemic in HCM City.

Bennett Neo, SABECO’s general director, said: “We are currently facing a truly challenging period with COVID-19 affecting us, our families and everyone across the country. In addition to immediate and grave health concerns, we are seeing increasing difficulties and stresses everywhere in our communities in many provinces and cities. The pandemic has also tremendously affected the operations of countless businesses, large and small, across the country.

He added: "As our National Day approaches in the midst of unprecedented historical circumstances, this all the more emphasizes the importance of national values. SABECO, a company with long-standing history in Việt Nam, owns Bia Saigon, a brand loved by generations of Vietnamese. Việt Nam is home to SABECO and Bia Saigon."

"When Việt Nam encounters difficulties and challenges, Bia Saigon is prepared to work together to support the country and our people through the most practical means. “Collecting a Million Stars” is a part of our “Stronger Together” Campaign, and aims to spread a positive, with the hope of rallying everyone to unite and remain resilient during this unprecedented period.”

Ngô Văn Cương - secretary of HCYU’s Central Committee - said: “Over one year since the outbreak of the COVID-19 in Việt Nam, the lives and activities of the people as well as the production and business activities of enterprises and companies turned upside down.

"Experiencing the epidemic, many industries have suffered heavy losses. Therefore, when entering the fourth wave of pandemic with multiple strains and outbreaks, and many sources of infection in provinces and cities, not only large enterprises but also lots of small businesses are facing the risk of bankruptcy.

"To continue to maintain and develop the activities, small businesses are in dire need of help from the community. Therefore, this situation motivated the HCYU’s Central Committee to cooperate with SABECO and Bia Saigon to implement the programme "Contribute Millions of Stars" for small businesses in HCM City that are being severely affected by COVID-19.”

Along with this social activity organised with HCYU, Bia Saigon has launched a series of projects showcasing the country's traditional values and promoting the solidarity of all Vietnamese generations from all walks of life.

Last 26 August, Bia Saigon hosted an online event to launch its campaign to spread the positive spirit of ‘Stronger Together’ and to introduce the limited edition ‘Việt Nam Star’ Bia Saigon Lager Can created in collaboration between Bia Saigon and a remarkable young artist named Cậu Bé Thỏ (full name Nguyễn Ngọc Vũ).  

 “The Việt Nam Star" design on the Bia Saigon Lager can is inspired by Đông Hồ folk art and a close-up of everyday imagery in Việt Nam. This is Cậu Bé Thỏ’s expression of a vibrant nation uniting and going through changes together.

The country's cultural heritages woven together in the pentagram evoke the nation's unity and the spirit of hope, as well as for everyone to overcome obstacles and difficulties together.

Bia Saigon has also collaborated with young emerging Vietnamese fashion brand Icon Denim to launch a limited fashion collection, inspired by the Việt Nam Star design, which includes T-shirts, jackets, caps and a tote bag: A true action of two local Vietnamese brands working together to spread positivity and encouragement. 

Military medicos supporting home-bound Covid-19 patients

 

In addition to providing treatment to Covid-19 patients at field hospitals, doctors from the Military Medical Academy have also been deployed to nearly 400 mobile medical stations to support patients at home.

These laneways where Covid-19 patients are being treated at home have become familiar to military doctors at a mobile medical station in Ward 13 in Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Binh district.

Due to their mild symptoms, Covid-19 patients Nguyen Bao An and his family members were instructed to treat the illness at home, but they are not alone, as military medical doctors often visit.

Ward 13 in Tan Binh district currently has 200 Covid-19 patients being treated at home. The timely support from military medical staff has helped reduce the burden on the local health sector and saved lives.

Mobile medical teams will support Covid-19 patients until they test negative and then for a further 14 days. Along with the Military Medical Academy, medical forces from cities and provinces around the country have headed to the epicentre of the pandemic in Ho Chi Minh City and the southern region, with a determination to save lives./. 

Religious volunteers provide spiritual medicine for COVID patients to recover: Deputy PM

With COVID-19 causing confusion and anxiety, having Buddhist and Catholic nuns, monks and volunteers taking care of patients serves as a great spiritual remedy for them to overcome the illness, Deputy Prime Minister Vũ Đức Đam has said.

On Saturday morning he first visited field hospital No. 10 (Thủ Đức City) which has 3,000 beds and more than 1,200 COVID patients now.

It has 15 doctors and more than 70 nurses and 50 non-medical staff, including nuns, monks and practitioners of Buddhism taking care of patients.

Speaking with Đam, Sister Nguyễn Thị Hồng Hạnh of the Ba Ria Dominican Sisters said the volunteers, not familiar initially, were worried, but found it not too difficult or worrisome after being guided by doctors.

Some of the nuns registered to work for one month, some for two months, but when they saw that the demand for patient care was so high, most opted to stay longer, she said.

"COVID patients do not have relatives by their side, and so when they are supported and taken care of and feel love, they recover quickly," she said.

Seeing so many people being discharged, both doctors and volunteers felt very happy, she said.

Đam thanked all the religious volunteers who accepted hardships to join hands with the Government to take care of COVID patients.

"In the midst of the illness causing confusion and anxiety, having nuns, monks [and volunteers] around to encourage and comfort is a great spiritual medicine that energises patients to overcome the illness."

Next he visited the kitchen at the Lương Thế Vinh Primary School in Thủ Đức City organised by the Venerable Thích Minh Đạo, abbot of the Nam Thiên Nhất Trụ Pagoda.

This kitchen serves 4,000-6,000 free meals every day to patients at field hospitals, frontline personnel, disadvantaged people, and students in HCM City and Bình Dương.

Đạo said the kitchen had been functioning since the beginning of July, and currently provided breakfast and dinner every day.

It was manned by volunteers, youth union members and self-defence forces, with the school’s teachers who cook meals for students being the chefs. The pagoda is setting up another kitchen in Bình Dương.

Đam expressed thanks to different religious groups for joining hands with the Government to support frontline workers, patients and people facing difficulties. 

HCMC cares for over 39,000 hospitalized patients related to coronavirus

Ho Chi Minh City is now caring for 39,611 hospitalized cases infected with coronavirus, including 2,175 children under 16 years old, 2,758 patients treated with ventilators and 18 severe ones with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (EMCO) intervention.

On Saturday, 2,643 patients recovering from Covid-19 went home, bringing the total number of Covid-19 discharges to 102,598 from January 1 to now. On the same day, HCMC confirmed 271 deaths related to Covid-19.

According to the latest updated Covid-19 news from Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (HCDC) on Sunday, the city recorded 205,466 coronavirus infections, including 205,023 domestic cases and 443 imported ones.

By August 28, the city has run out of 5,806,990 doses of vaccine.

The health sector of districts and Thu Duc City are pushing the rapid Covid-19 antigen sample test for residents living in the red and orange areas once every two days. People living in the green and yellow zones will be taken the RT-PCR test for Covid-19 once a week.
During the passing time, the city health sector detected 54,498 coronavirus infections from 1,436,922 test samples. Therefore, the rate of Covid-19 infections to test samples reached nearly 3.8 percent.

Besides that, there have been over 400 mobile medical stations in the whole city serving and monitoring patients at home.

Up to now, the number of Covid-19 patients performing home isolation and treatment under the monitoring of the local medical staff has been 77,801. 

Young Vietnamese professors doing well in RoK

 

It’s not at all strange for Vietnamese students to be invited to stay and teach at prestigious universities abroad after they complete their studies. Let’s meet two outstanding brothers - Nguyen Ngoc Phi and Nguyen Ngoc Tan - who are currently lecturers at Sejong University in Seoul, the Republic of Korea.

The two have made a good impression on other Vietnamese students.

Their research results so far and receiving certificates of merit have encouraged the two young men to continue to do well in South Korea.

Earning a scholarship to study abroad is difficult, and becoming famous in a foreign country is even more difficult. But the two brothers, Ngoc Tan and Ngoc Phi, have proven that nothing is impossible./.

Conference discusses advances in lung cancer treatment

Leading respiratory and oncology experts have updated and discussed the latest advances in lung cancer treatments, especially ALK+ non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), at an online scientific conference on August 28.

The event "Alectinib – More unforgettable moments for your ALK+ non-small cell lung cancer patients," was jointly organised by the National Cancer Institute and Roche Pharma Vietnam.

At the event, participants heard that lung cancer currently causes about one-third of cancer deaths and is the main cause of cancer-related death in both men and women. About 70 percent of patients with NSCLC have never smoked.

In addition, NSCLC patients are quite young, with about 50 per cent of total patients under 50 years old. On a global scale, the total number of new NSCLC cases with ALK+ is about 89,000.

Experts said that up to 89 percent of NSCLC with ALK+ patients were diagnosed with the diseases at stage IV, with a high rate of brain metastasis. This results in reducing both the quality of life and survival time of patients. Without effective treatment, NSCLC patients with ALK+ can only live from six to 20 months.

Dr. Nguyễn Thị Thái Hòa, Head of Internal Medicine Department 2, Cancer (K) Hospital, said that Alectinib was a cancer oral treatment for people with NSCLC that have ALK-positive tumors.

NSCLC ALK+ is more common in young people with a history of light smoking or who have never smoked. The new treatment Alectinib, which has been approved by the Ministry of Health, will help improve efficiency in treatment and extend the life of NSCLC cases with ALK+.

“According to practical treatment around the world as well as research results, Alectinib has significantly extended the lives of lung cancer patients, reducing risk of brain metastasis," said Hoà. "About 62.5 per cent of NSCLC patients with ALK+ treating with Alectinib can extend their life for over five years, of which three years are without severe progression, which immensely improves the patient’s quality of life,”

Dr. Lê Thượng Vũ, deputy head of Respiratory Department, Chợ Rẫy Hospital, said that Alectinib was the preferred choice in the first-line treatment for patients in the advanced stage of NSCLC ALK+.

The use of Alectinib in treatment will give better tolerability, while reducing side effects and toxicity, helping to improve the quality of life for patients.

According to a study from the International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2020, Việt Nam ranked 91st among 185 countries in terms of the incidence rate of cancer and 50th among 185 in terms of death rate per 100,000 people.

Lung cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in both men and women. In 2020, Việt Nam recorded 26,262 new cases of lung cancer and 23,797 deaths (Globocan 2020). 

Dang Van Lam officially joins Vietnamese national squad

Vietnamese goalkeeper Dang Van Lam arrived in Doha in Qatar to link up with the nation team on August 29 after taking a flight from Osaka in Japan ahead of the upcoming 2022 World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia.

The morning of August 28 saw the Vietnamese national team depart for Saudi Arabia in order to participate in their first match of the third round of qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup.

Due to a lack of direct flights, the national team were forced to take a connection flight from Hanoi to Doha in Qatar before flying from to Riyadh by a special plane arranged by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation.

Rather than returning to Hanoi to fly with the rest of the team, Van Lam flew directly from Japan to Doha instead.

In the latest national team squad, Van Lam is the only member to be playing overseas. He was called up by head coach Park Hang-seo despite not playing a match for several months.

Van Lam's last match with the Vietnamese team was exactly two years ago against Thailand in the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup.

The three goalkeepers named in the squad to play Saudi Arabia by head coach Hang-seo include Van Lam, Bui Tan Truong, and Nguyen Van Toan.

Van Lam will have to work hard to win his place back in the starting line up after veteran goalkeeper Tan Truong put in a number of impressive performances in the national team’s last set of fixtures.

Woman starts successful business during Covid-19 pandemic

A woman in Hanoi has successfully set up a herbal shampoo business after leaving her job in the city centre and moved to the suburbs.

Pham Thi Nhung used to work at a PR department in a pharmaceutical company in Hanoi for VND13m (USD567) to VND15m a month. However, she was stressed, feeling uncertain about her future and regretted not spending more time with her children.

"When Covid-19 broke out in Vietnam in March 2020, I sent my children to our hometown in Ung Hoa District to live with their grandparents. Then my company laid off staff when the pandemic became more serious. That was when I start entertaining the idea of leaving my job," she said. "I quit in September 2020."

According to Nhung, it was not a risky move for her. She has been interested in handmade products for a long time. A lip spray in 2018 left her lips dry and in a bad shape.

"I used various lip balms but they were no use. Then a friend gave me a handmade lipstick and saved my lips," she said. "I learned how to make it myself and gave it as gifts to my friends. After that, more and more people want to buy lip balms from me so I started selling various handmade products like lipsticks and dry perfume."

Then one day, her customers suggested that she should make and sell herbal shampoo too after seeing her post about how to make use of herbs around the house as shampoo. She then experimented with honey locusts, pomelo leaves, lime, ginger and goosegrass. The first 100 shampoo bottles were sold out in two days. Nhung later improved her shampoo with 20 herbs.

"At first I just mixed them up altogether. Now I only incubate herbs that have oil and can evaporate easily," she said.

Before the fourth Covid-19 wave broke out, Nhung often sold 400-500 bottles a month and received positive feedback. Each bottle costs VND129,000. She often bought a tonne of honey locusts to dry at her house and modified the machines into a more suitable compressor or grinder.

"I have a stable income. Some months, my revenue is even higher than my company salary. But I have to work harder from researching, producing and marketing. I think it is worth it. I believe that my decision to quit my old job is right as I can spend more time with my family," Nhung said.

Nhung said she was starting a handmade soap project in which her children can partake. This long-term project is her gift to her children. 

Overcoming difficulties during the pandemic

Ho Chi Minh City is experiencing unprecedented difficulties due to the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Every day, with the support of the whole country, Ho Chi Minh City people are striving to overcome huge challenges to control the pandemic and to soon bring life back to normal in the city.

As the most vibrant city in the country, over the past month the city named after Uncle Ho has become unusually quiet. At COVID-19 treatment hospitals and field hospitals, battles for lives of patients are intense day by day. Behind the quiet appearance, each officer, soldier, volunteer and others still silently take care of local people's lives.

Doctor Nguyen Tri Thuc, director of Cho Ray Hospital and director of Ho Chi Minh City's COVID-19 Resuscitation Hospital, said that since the COVID-19 Resuscitation Hospital came into operation, every day is a real battle for medical workers here. Severe cases have been constantly transferred to the hospital, posing great pressure on medical workers to keep the patients alive.

Permanent Deputy Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee cum Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Phan Van Mai said that the city's top priority is how to mobilise all resources, both at home and abroad, to focus on improving treatment quality and reducing the mortality rate.

The second priority is taking care of people's lives through social security policies and solving people’s daily needs so that people can feel secure in overcoming this tough period.

Thirdly, the city will synchronously and methodically implement measures to control the pandemic and improve the current situation, such as through social distancing, testing, timely detection of F0s, prompt treatment, and accelerated vaccination.

In order to improve the treatment capacity and reduce fatalities, the city has received great support from the Government through the establishment of many resuscitation centres at field hospitals treat the serious and critical illness. At the same time, the city promptly adjusted the treatment model from a 5-layer model to a 3-layer model.

Assoc., Dr. Tang Chi Thuong, Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, said that with the increasing number of F0 cases, while most of them are asymptomatic or mild, the city has changed its treatment model to focus on caring for F0s to minimise the disease progression, thereby reducing the pressure on the upper treatment layers and limiting the mortality rate.

The city aims to control infections in the community, curb the daily number of hospitalisations to be equivalent to the number of hospital discharges, and restrain the number of hospitalisations at less than 2,000 people per day by September 15. 

At 7pm, when workers can take a rest after a hard day’s work, Luu Kim Hong, chairman of the Trade Union of Nidec Vietnam Co., Ltd. at the high-tech park in Thu Duc City, began to have a quick dinner. Before he could lie back, hundreds of messages appeared on Zalo, so Hong quickly replied because any information was urgent, such as reminding the bus fleet to move on time to transport workers from hotels to the factory, deciding on the schedule for COVID-19 testing of workers, preparing thousands of meals for the next day, and others.

Those are the tasks and situations that Hong and the Executive Board of the company's Trade Union have actively carried out so that the company would not miss a beat in production over the past month and a half.

With 500 workers participating in "three on-spot" production and 1,500 workers working under the "one road, two destinations" plan, all divisions of the company are involved in the production aligned with ensuring safety amid the pandemic.

The company has made every effort to retain workers and monitor their accommodation to serve safe production.

“It is not because of difficulties that the company steps back, because only by maintaining production in combination with strict implementation of COVID-19 prevention and control plans can employees’ jobs be stabilised, goods be maintained, and the production chain not be broken, thus contributing to achieving the dual goals set by the Government. The determination and unanimity of the workers and the Board of Directors is the decisive factor,” Hong noted.

Many other trade unions in the city have worked day and night side by side with workers and business leaders to maintain production, prevent the pandemic, and encourage employees to continue working.

A representative from the Ho Chi Minh City Labour Confederation said that during the fourth wave of the pandemic, the city's trade unions have supported workers through many practical models and initiatives such as "Kitchen of compassion", "Zero dong supermarket", "Bus of affection" and others. Trade unions have also responded to the programme of giving 10,000 gifts to workers worth a total of nearly VND55 billion and provided COVID-19 vaccination for more than 465,000 workers.

Realising the risk of disease spreading in slum areas, Binh Thanh District People's Committee has decided to relocate about 2,000 people with priority given to people over 65 years old, people with underlying diseases, and households in difficult circumstances. They have moved to Thanh Da Trade Union Hostel and apartment building 1050 in Binh Thanh District.

The relocation aims to reduce population density and limit the generation of F0s while the city is strengthening social distancing. Binh Thanh District is also providing an extra VND500,000 for each resident in addition to a welfare bag for each family and milk for children.

Ma Thi Minh Thao and her four-member family who were living in the motel at No.148/9/2, Ung Van Khiem Street has just moved to a new place arranged by Binh Thanh District, said that the timely support and the response from the district provide motivation for her family to overcome this tough time.

In addition to providing financial support to needy workers and households and vulnerable people affected by the pandemic, tens of thousands of gifts and necessities are also provided by the city’s Fatherland Front Committee and authorities so that no one is left behind.

Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee in Ho Chi Minh City To Thi Bich Chau said that the city is implementing the programme to provide two million social welfare bags of essential goods, worth VND300,000 each, to people in difficult circumstances. Regarding F0s who are in quarantine at home, each welfare bag has extra milk and nutritional porridge for the sick.

Any difficulty will be overcome when there is joint effort and consensus. This is the time when the city needs to promote its good traditions to overcome the pandemic soon.

HCMC reapplies inter-district movement declaration

August 29 is the first day when Ho Chi Minh City started reapplying inter-district movement declaration and the fifth day that drivers have used new travel pass form through Covid-19 checking points in districts, Thu Duc City and city gateways.

According to the Sai Gon Giai Phong Newspaper’s reporter, there has been no traffic congestion at checking points in districts and Thu Duc City as the drivers perform the declaration.

At a checking point on Pham Van Dong Street, Thu Duc City, the functional forces required all traffic participants to show their travel pass of the new form and conduct inter-district movement declaration.

The declaration process took around ten minutes as almost all people did to make the declaration at home.

The same situation also happened in Dinh Bo Linh Street of Binh Thanh District, Phan Van Tri, Nguyen Kiem, Hoang Minh Giam street in Go Vap District and Phu Nhuan District.

The police forces recommended that local people should use their smart phones to scan and capture QR Code on the travel pass for the movement declaration.
The code is valid in three days.

As for the traffic participants without smart-phone, the functional forces at checking points will provide and instruct movement declaration by paper for those people.

New Zealand provides 20 full scholarships for Vietnamese teachers

With the goal of strengthening educational links and promoting cultural exchange, Education New Zealand (ENZ) is providing 20 fully-funded scholarships for Vietnamese teachers to take study courses under the New Zealand Global Competence Certificate and Teacher Training program.

The combined program will last for five weeks and will be delivered by lecturers from Massey University. This will be the second cohort of this program.

Thirty-five teachers of the program’s first cohort came from several ENZ partner schools in Vietnam. Participants have immersed themselves in a multicultural environment with 65 other teachers from New Zealand, South Korea and Indonesia.

The New Zealand Global Competence Certificate consists of 20 learning modules delivered on a virtual platform, with online classes connecting Vietnamese teachers with their New Zealand, Japanese and Thai counterparts. 

The training involves various topics including teaching methods, correction techniques and creating a learning community.

Ben Burrowes, ENZ Regional Director – Asia, said that through this scholarship program, ENZ affirms its commitment to support Vietnam in achieving educational goals in the 21st century and building the capacity of teachers in both English language teaching and future skills.

Eligible candidates are Vietnamese teachers currently working at a high school, a university or an English center in Vietnam.

The program is conducted in English and participants are required to meet English-level equivalent to IELTS 6.0 or higher.

Applications for the program are open from now until September 5, 2021. The program will go on from October 11 until November 14. 

Students may be exempted from tuition fees in first half of 2021-22 school year

The HCMC Department of Education and Training has proposed exempting students from tuition fees in the first half of the 2021-2022 school year.

Nguyen Van Hieu, director of the department, made the proposal at a meeting of the municipal People’s Council last week, the local media reported.

Hieu said the municipal government had supported parents facing difficulties caused by Covid-19 by maintaining the tuition fees for the 2021-2022 school year the same as last year. However, the pandemic is lasting longer than expected and classes in the first half of the 2021-2022 school year will have to be held online.

Hieu said the HCMC Department of Education and Training had coordinated with the television station to produce teaching programs, which are expected to be broadcast early next month.

The 2021-2022 school year has begun with multiple difficulties. In all learning and teaching plans, the safety of students must be the top priority, Hieu noted.

Many parents have faced multiple difficulties in preparing learning materials and equipment for the online learning of their children. Support packages can help them with just the basic needs, while the tuition fees will prove a burden.

For the 2021-2022 school year, HCMC has some 1.71 million students, up 31,000 over the previous school year.

The city has requisitioned 249 schools as quarantine centers and 453 as Covid-19 testing and vaccination sites. Nearly 2,000 teachers and 6,000 students in the city have been either Covid-19 carriers or direct contacts of Covid-19 cases.

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