Vietnam Covid-19 Updates (Dec. 7): Close to 14,600 Fresh Cases Detected

Photo: VNA

Close to 14,600 fresh Covid-19 cases were detected, with over 8,000 in the community

The Health Ministry reported the detection of 14,591 new Covid-19 cases in 59 provinces and cities nationwide on December 6, representing a rise of 246 cases from one day earlier. Among the new infections, a total of 8,117 cases were detected in the community.

The three localities with the highest number of fresh cases were Ho Chi Minh City with 1,174 infections, Tay Ninh with 859, and Soc Trang with 793 cases. Hanoi recorded 587 new infections over the past 24 hours, with many of them detected among the local community.

Health authorities also confirmed a total of 1,130 recoveries on the same day. Elsewhere, Vietnamese airlines proposed that the Government swiftly resume international flights and exempt mandatory quarantine for fully vaccinated passengers in a bid to save the aviation industry from a prolonged crisis.

Photo: VN Express

Hanoi considers non-essential services ban as Covid-19 cases surge

The Hanoi municipal administration is considering restrictions on non-essential services amid a skyrocketing number of coronavirus infections in the community. The Covid-19 outbreak remains complicated in the capital city as hundreds of new cases have been confirmed on a daily basis in almost all districts over the past few days. Data unveiled by the Hanoi Centre for Diseases Control show 791 people were diagnosed with the virus on December 3, a record high figure since the start of the outbreak. December 6 also saw 776 confirmed, with nearly half of them, detected in the community.

The municipal administration on December 6 requested its districts to review Covid-19 developments and adjust prevention and control measures based on the Covid-19 four-alert levels adopted by the Ministry of Health. It is considering suspending non-essential services such as food services, events with large gatherings of people among others if the daily number of new virus infections keeps rising.

Since the city moved into a new normal, many outbreaks have occurred in the community with unknown clusters of infections. Worryingly, large numbers of local people show apathy toward disease prevention and control. Many coffee shops and food eateries have neglected Covid-19 guidelines by opening late and not requesting customers to sit apart. Trading centers have been crowded with visitors and shoppers on weekends paying no heed to regulations on maintaining a safe distance. People think that by having received two doses of the vaccine, they can safely travel without getting infection anymore, according to a health official.

Photo: Zing News

District in Thanh Hoa shuts down 19 schools following Covid outbreaks

Nineteen schools in a district in the north-central Thanh Hoa Province were closed down after the detection of multiple Covid-19 cases. Since Monday morning, Vinh Loc District’s Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control has allowed over 8,000 students from 19 schools, including kindergartens, primary, secondary and high schools, to suspend in-person classes, according to the local Department of Education and Training. Teachers and school staff must now clean up, perform disease prevention measures and instruct students to study at home until further notice, according to the department.

The decision was made after the district detected five new Covid-19 cases, all students. Previously, 21 students at Vinh Loc High School and Vinh Phuc Secondary School were infected with the coronavirus. One 10th grader in Vinh Loc High School was found to have made contact with, besides their family, around 34 classmates and 12 teachers in the past 14 days before being confirmed infected Friday. At least 2,000 people have made contact with the students, medical authorities stated. So far, 21 cases have been infected, mostly fellow students and family members.

Local children aged 15-17 have also begun to be vaccinated starting late November with Pfizer. But several have experienced side effects, though none were severe, according to the provincial Center for Disease Control. Thanh Hoa is one of a few localities in Vietnam to have opened schools amid the pandemic. Hanoi reopened several high schools from Monday while HCMC has only resumed in-person classes in its island district Can Gio.

Photo: VN Express

Carriers urge quick resumption of int'l flights with quarantine exemption

Vietnamese carriers proposed the government soon resume international flights and exempt mandatory quarantine for fully vaccinated passengers to save the aviation industry from a prolonged crisis.

On Monday, Dang Ngoc Hoa, chairman of Vietnam Airlines, said the national flag carrier has petitioned the government to soon reopen international flights to countries and territories with high vaccination rates and good pandemic control. If Vietnam is slow in reopening international flights, the country would lose its advantage to attract not only foreign tourists but also investors, Hoa said. "Airlines and tourism businesses are in deep financial crisis, which can lead to bankruptcy and inability to compete regionally," he added.

The Ministry of Transport stated all airlines wanted the government to quickly resume regular international flights and relax mandatory quarantine for fully vaccinated international passengers. Under a three-phase roadmap on flight resumption submitted by the ministry, it had recommended commercial flights to 12 countries and territories with good pandemic control records and high vaccination rates should be resumed from next month. Fully vaccinated passengers and those who have recovered from the disease will be quarantined for seven days at paid facilities on arrival in Vietnam.

In the second phase starting in the second quarter of 2022, passengers with vaccine passports approved by Vietnam would be exempt from quarantine, and that from the third quarter, normal flights would resume. Currently, the Health Ministry allows fully vaccinated foreign arrivals to undergo seven-day mandatory quarantine while covering their own expenses.

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