Two out of the five patients returned from abroad and entered Vietnam from March 21-23 and have been quarantined since their entry. The remainders were infected with the virus from patients inside the country.

The 149th patient is a 40-year-old Vietnamese man who worked as a freelancer in Hessen state of Germany. He arrived at Van Don Airport in northern Quang Ninh province on flight VN36 (seat number 55C) on March 23 along with his mother (seat number 55A). He tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 on March 25.

The man is treated at the Hospital No.2 in Quang Ninh’s Ha Long city.

The 150th patient is a 55-year-old Vietnamese man. On March 13, he and his wife flew from the US, transited in Taiwan (China) and boarded flight BR395 of EVA Air (seat numbers 2D and 2K) back to Vietnam. They arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on the same day.

He had contact with many people after his entry. He has been quarantined at Can Gio district’s COVID-19 treatment hospital since March 18.

The 151st patient is a 45-year-old Brazilian woman, who is residing in HCM City’s district 2, and working at two branches of her footwear company in Dong Nai province and HCM City.
She had close contact with the 124th patient. She also visited restaurants and supermarkets in HCM City and Dong Nai.

The patient is now treated at a quarantine area in HCM City’s Cu Chi district.

The 152nd patient is a Vietnamese woman, 27, residing in HCM City’s Tan Phu district. She is an older sister of the 127th patient, who worked as a waiter at Buddha Bar.

She has been under quarantine since March 23 at Can Gio district’s COVID-19 treatment hospital.

The 153rd patient is a 60-year-old Vietnamese woman residing in central Da Nang city’s Hai Chau district.

She visited her relatives in Australia and returned Vietnam on March 21 on flight VN772 to the Tan Son Nhat airport. Upon her arrival, she was quarantined along with the 143rd patient and two other people in the same room at the dormitory of Vietnam National University-HCM City.

After the 143rd patient was confirmed to contract the disease, she and the two remainders were transferred to the acute respiratory disease hospital in Cu Chi district for quarantine and testing on March 23.

Saigon Co.op increases food portions supply to COVID-19 quarantine zones

The Saigon Union of Trading Co-operatives (Saigon Co.op) has coordinated with enterprises to provide over 30,000 food portions for quarantine areas amid the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, three times the previous figure.

Since mid-March, the union has provided 10,000 portions daily for quarantine areas at the Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, Can Gio and Nha Be districts, District 12, Go Gap district hospital, the HCM City University of Foreign Languages – Information Technology, and Binh Tan district’s preventive health centre.

A representative of Saigon Co.op said it will work with more suppliers in order to ensure the best support for those in quarantine.

The union is now cooperating with four firms, two of which provide free vegetables.

Apart from increasing the number of portions, Saigon Co.op has also strictly abided by regulations on food safety./.

Localities rush to set up concentrated quarantine sites

Neighbouring provinces around Ho Chi Minh City are rushing to set up concentrated quarantine sites to receive Vietnamese nationals returning from overseas who are subjected to mandatory quarantine amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Central Highlands province of Lam Dong will arrange the Da Lat city’s Student Dormitory with 960 beds and the province’s Nursing Centre for People with Merit with 170 beds as concentrated quarantine areas for returnees from overseas, said Doan Van Viet, chairman of the provincial People’s Committee.

The move aims to reduce the burden of similar quarantines areas in HCM City that have become overloaded, and Tay Ninh and Long An provinces, Viet said.

The province’s concentrated quarantine sites will able to receive at least 2,500 people who are subject to mandatory 14-day quarantine, Viet said at a meeting on March 25.

He assigned the province’s Department of Transport to allocate vehicles to transport people to quarantine areas from Lien Khuong International Airport in Lam Dong province as well as locations from HCM City and Long An province.

The southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau has six concentrated quarantine sites that will receive at least 3,500 returnees from overseas in order to ease the overload at concentrated quarantine centres in neighbouring localities.

Tran Van Tuan, deputy chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said the province has approved several hotels as quarantine facilities to receive people who are willing to pay for mandatory quarantine at hotels.

The province plans to organise four trips on March 28 and 29 and April 2 and 3 to send a total of 2,000 people to quarantine sites in the province.

The southern province of Binh Phuoc, which shares a 210-km border with Cambodia, has arranged concentrated quarantine areas with a total of 5,000 beds.

Quach Ai Duc, director of the provincial Department of Health, said that nearly 300 Vietnamese people returning home from Cambodia had been put under mandatory quarantine in the province’s concentrated quarantine areas.

Twenty people tested negative for COVID-19.

The provincial People’s Committee ordered the Department of Health to mobilise financial resources for tests for the remaining people who have returned from overseas since March 1./.

Coach Park donates 5,000 USD to COVID-19 fight

The head coach of the Vietnamese men’s football team Park Hang-seo donates 5,000 USD to Vietnam’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The head coach of the Vietnamese men’s football team Park Hang-seo on March 26 donated 5,000 USD to Vietnam’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The donation was handed over to President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Tran Thanh Man.

Park said he hopes to join hands with the Vietnamese Party, State and Health Ministry to support practitioners for COVID-19 response, as well as patients, people in quarantine and especially those suffering the direct economic impacts of the pandemic.

For his part, Man spoke highly of Park’s contributions to the Vietnamese sports sector and the men’s football team over the past three years.

The official expressed his hope that the coach’s good deed will be spread, thus helping to attract more resources for Vietnam’s COVID-19 fight.

Man also informed the coach about the rosy signs of the economic, trade and investment ties between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) over the past years, saying the RoK is always Vietnam’s leading foreign investor and a major partner in trade and tourism.

The successes of the Vietnamese men’s football squad under the instruction of the coach have contributed to the Vietnam-RoK relationship, he stressed.

Earlier, Park participated in a campaign calling on people to properly wash their hands jointly launched by the Vietnam Football Federation and the Ministry of Health.

The same day, the northern province of Thai Nguyen held a teleconference between Thai Nguyen city and eight districts in the locality to encourage people to join hands in the COVID-19 combat.

Nearly 16 billion VND (682,000 USD) was raised by organisations and agencies in the province during the event./.

HCM City’s District 9 hospital to be used for COVID-19 treatment

The HCM City Department of Health uses the Can Gio district's Health Centre as a hospital specialising in treatment of COVID-19

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health will temporarily use the HCM City Oncology Hospital’s District 9 facility to treat COVID-19 patients.

Dr Tang Chi Thuong, the department’s deputy head, at an online meeting between the department and hospitals early this week, instructed relevant divisions and hospitals to ensure there are enough doctors and nurses there.

A temporary coronavirus hospital each in Cu Chi district and the Can Gio District Health Centre are the only ones now used to treat people with the disease.

The Can Gio facility will see the number of beds increased to 600 since its quarantine area is no longer because people are being sent to other sites in the district.

The department’s planning and finance division is working with the city Centre for Diseases Prevention and Control to ensure there is adequate preventive equipment for health workers at these hospitals.

Thuong said hospitals should strengthen surveillance of compliance with regulations to prevent health staff from contracting infections.

The HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases is shifting patients with all other tropical diseases except tetanus to other general hospitals in the city for continued treatment.

The department wants it to focus on COVID-19 but avoid cross-contamination, and so the number of beds for COVID-19 patients will increase soon to 400 from 80 now.

Thuong also instructed each hospital to set up a negative air pressure cleanroom with essential equipment for COVID-19 patients who need surgery./.

Overseas Vietnamese national in UK presents aid to COVID-19 fight

Pham Minh Nam (second from left), an overseas Vietnamese national in the UK, presents 1 billion VND (over 43,000 USD) to support Vietnam’s fight against COVID-19

Pham Minh Nam, an overseas Vietnamese national in the UK on March 26 presented 1 billion VND (over 43,000 USD) to support Vietnam’s fight against the acute respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).

At a ceremony to hand over the relief held at the Embassy of Vietnam in the UK, Nam, who is the President of the Vietnamese Business Association in the UK, said he said the donation showed his responsibility for his home country at this time of hardship.

For his part, Ambassador to the UK Tran Ngoc An briefed his guest on Vietnam’s endeavours in COVID-19 prevention that call for synchronous efforts of people from all walks of life.

He expressed his gratitude for Nam's contribution, saying such support will play a crucial part in Vietnam’s efforts to contain the spread of the virus.

As of the end of March 26, Vietnam had reported 153 COVID-19 cases, of which 17 patients fully recovered./.

Vietnamese Cambodians actively cope with COVID-19 pandemic

Sim Chy, Chairman of the Khmer-Vietnam Association, grants an interview to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)'s reporter

The Khmer-Vietnamese Association in Cambodia has sent many notices to its chapters in 25 provinces and cities, asking them to take precautionary measures against the COVID-19 pandemic and follow relevant instructions of local authorities.

According to Sim Chy, chairman of the association, as of March 26, no COVID-19 infections had been recorded among Vietnamese Cambodians, and only one of them, who is working in Poipet city bordering Thailand, has been quarantined in a concentrated centre.

The Cambodian Ministry of Health on March 25 evening confirmed five new cases, raising the total number in the country to 96.

On March 24, the Standing Board of the Khmer-Vietnamese Association warned Vietnamese Cambodians against movement and overseas trips and advised them to observe countermeasures of the Cambodian government.

In case of emergency, it is recommended to contact the association’s chapters in Cambodian cities and provinces or its office via phone number ( 85588.999.5162).

Pham Thanh Thuy, vice chairwoman and general secretary of the association, said most of the Vietnamese Cambodians are traders and about half of them had shut down shops to prevent the spread of the epidemic.

Vietnamese people in Moscow join hands to prevent COVID-19

Situated in Moscow, the Hanoi-Moscow Multifunction Complex (Incentra) is one of the places where many Vietnamese people live and work. At present, all visitors coming in and out of the complex are required to check their temperatures and wash their hands at the main gate. Sanitizer is always available at the door.

Besides, warnings about the COVID-19 epidemic and ways to prevent the virus from spreading are broadcast in both Vietnamese and Russian in all elevators.

Although there are still concerns about the possibility of infection in Russia, the Management Board of Incentra Complex is confident that with strict management and effective epidemic prevention, the Vietnamese community in Moscow will safely overcome the epidemic.