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A medical staff vaccinates a person in Ho Chi Minh City on August 15, 2021. Photo: VnExpress

Vietnam confirms 8,788 new Covid-19 cases

Health authorities confirmed 8,788 new local Covid-19 cases Wednesday, down 807 from Tuesday.

Ho Chi Minh City led with 3,731 cases, followed by Binh Duong Province (2,513) and Dong Nai Province (443).

The changes compared to Tuesday are up 172 cases in HCMC, down 819 in Binh Duong and up 145 in Dong Nai.

The country has recorded 298,013 cases since the end of April, among them 36.4 percent have been discharged, cited VnExpress.

298 deaths were recorded Wednesday, bring the total since last year to 6,770, or 2.2 percent of total number of cases.

Vietnam has vaccinated 15.5 million people, among them 9.6 percent have received two doses.

The Ministry of Health on Wednesday started distributing an additional 30,000 bottles of Covid-19 treatment Remdesivir to southern localities. On August 8, it distributed the first batch 10,000 bottles.

40% of Covid-19 cases in Hanoi found through electronic medical declaration screening

As many as 13,579 people reporting coughing and high temperature on medical declarations turned out to be positive cases, amounting to 40 percent of total cases of the city.

Hanoi, which imposed social distancing from 6 am July 24, detects people with symptoms of coughing and high temperatures on tech platforms such as Bluezone and tokhaiyte.vn.

In its Directive 17 dated July 23, the municipal authorities asked people to make health declarations daily on tokhaiyte.vn or NCOVI and Bluezone, and contact the local authorities and medical units when they have fever, cough, shortness of breath or loss of smell or taste.

Businesses that provide essential services and are permitted to stay open have also been asked to control all customers by asking them to scan QR Code when checking in.

Photo: VNN

Later, the city asked people to make electronic health declarations every day to help medical units discover and classify F0 cases in the community, reported VNN.

As of July 31, there were 2,326,921 health declarations on platforms, with 70,000 declarations each day. On July 31, there were 1,000 declarations about cough, high temperature and shortness of breath. This included 666 declarations on Bluezone, and 342 on tokhaiyte.vn.

As of mid-August, the number of health declarations via technological platforms had reached 13,600. Of this, 800 F0 and F1 (contacts of F0) cases had been found.

In early August, technological solutions helped discover 5,500 cases related to Thanh Nga Food Company in Hanoi after one hour.

According to the Hanoi Health Department, on August 16, when screening 13,579 cough and fever cases reported by people via Bluezone and tokhaiyte.vn, the city found 95 positive cases.

From these cases, the city expanded monitoring and tested related cases. As a result, it discovered 691 more cases in the community. The total number of F0 cases discovered from screening people with suspected symptoms accounted for 40 percent of total F0 cases in the fourth outbreak.

Remdesivir delivered to Covid-19 hotspots in Vietnam

The Ministry of Health (MoH) on August 17 distributed 30,000 vials of Remdesivir, a broad-spectrum antiviral medication, to intensive care unit (ICU) centres and eight localities in the south to assist them with the Covid-19 fight.

This was the second time the MoH has delivered the drug to treat patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. On August 8 Ho Chi Minh City, the largest coronavirus hotspot in Vietnam, received 10,000 vials of the drug.

The Remdesivir rollout is part of the 500,000 vials that Vingroup, a leading multisectoral conglomerate of Vietnam, has purchased from India and donated to the MoH to treat Covid-19 patients.

Remdesivir, a broad-spectrum antiviral medication approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, has been much sought after worldwide to treat Covid-19. Photo: VOV

Another 330,000 vials of the drug are set to arrive in Vietnam by the end of August 2021.

Remdesivir, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration of the United States, proves to shorten the recovery time and drastically reduce the mortality rate among critically ill patients.

The much-sought-after drug has been used in 50 countries and territories worldwide, including the US, European Union states, Australia, Japan, Singapore and India, reported VOV.

Remdesivir is manufactured by India’s Cipla Pharmaceutical Company with permission granted by US-based Gilead Sciences, the developer of the drug. The drug is used for treating Covid-19 patients with moderate and severe symptoms.

Vietnam has recorded approximately 9,000 new coronavirus cases daily during the past few days, mostly in the south. On August 17, an additional 9,605 infections were recorded, with Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong registering 3,559, and 3,332, respectively.

The MoH has put into operation ICU centres in the southern region to treat severely ill patients and reduce the mortality rate.

More than 6,100 patients have died of Covid-19 and other underlying illnesses such as hypertension, diabetes (type II) and multi-organ failure in Vietnam.

Vietnam to rank among top 50 global destinations

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has issued a tourism development action programme for the 2021 - 2025 period, with the aim of turning Vietnam into one of the world’s top 50 countries in terms of tourism competitiveness.

The scheme will strive to raise public awareness about the need to develop tourism and transform it into a spearhead economic sector, whilst gradually turning the country into an attractive destination for foreign travelers.

The plan will also focus on the application of advanced science and technology, along with utlising digital technologies in the tourism industry.

Hue Imperial Citadel (Dai Noi) in the central province of Thue Thien-Hue. Photo: VOV

The tourism industry will develop a national database system on tourism, conduct surveys for classifying and digitalising Vietnamese tourism resources, including establishing a digital information system on tourist sites, tourist service establishments, as well as the country’s tourism markets, according to VOV.

Proposals also emphasise the need to develop and implement smart tourism development projects, apply modern technology to develop smart software, and make use of utilities to support management over tourism activities to better serve tourists.

Furthermore, tourism businesses are anticipated to receive support to strengthen connectivity and innovate their activities, whilst striving to enhance the application of green and clean technology in lodging facilities.

The Ministry has proposed that financial policies should be promptly issued in support of tourism firms and there should be a focus on human resources training to cushion the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Other goals include simplifying administrative procedures, reducing costs for the pandemic-hit businesses, investing in tourism infrastructure, developing a high-quality workforce, and promoting international co-operation.

Central regions continue facing hot weather

The hot weather is forecast to last for days to come in the central region, according to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

Due to the influence of a low-pressure trough combined with winds from the southwest, Thanh Hoa to Phu Yen; the midlands, and the Northern Delta and Hoa Binh province will continue to suffer intense heat on August 18, with maximum temperatures ranging from 35-37 degrees Celsius, with some locations even recording temperatures over 37 degrees Celsius.

The hot weather is forecast to last for days to come in the central region. Photo: NDO

Humidity is averaging at 50-60% and the total time per day with temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius is between 11 and 16 hours, cited NDO.

In Hanoi, maximum temperatures will also reach 35-37 degrees Celsius on August 18, with some locations seeing over 37 degrees Celsius.

Today, the UV index is forecast to present a high risk of harm in provinces and cities across the country, mainly between 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; especially in Hanoi, Can Tho and Ca Mau, between 11am and 1pm.

In the next three days, the UV index is forecast to present a high risk of harm in cities across the country, especially Ca Mau on August 20.

Warnings of the risk of fire in residential areas and forest fires in central provinces have been issued due to the intense heat combined with low humidity and southwesterly winds.

In addition, at these temperatures, people are likely to experience heat exhaustion and cramps after prolonged exposure to the sun or after substantial physical activity.

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