Collecting sample for Covid-19 testing. Photo: VNA

Vietnam logs 142,136 new Covid-19 cases on March 6

Vietnam recorded an additional 142,136 Covid-19 infections, including eight imported cases, in the past 24 hours to 4pm on March 6, the Ministry of Health announced.

The capital city of Hanoi continued to log the highest number of infections with 29,578.

It was followed by northern Bac Ninh and central Nghe An provinces, with 8,355 and 7,579 cases, respectively.

The new infections brought the country’s total caseload to 4,434,700, ranking 21st among 225 countries and territories across the world, cited VNA.

Another 87 fatalities were reported on March 6, raising the nation’s death toll to 40,813.

The same day, 65,445 patients were declared to be free from coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, lifting the total number of recoveries to 2,681,447.

More than 197.57 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines had been administered in Vietnam.

Cold spell to hit northern Vietnam, light rain, humidity expected

A cold front is making its way through China to northern Vietnam, bringing rain and humidity in the coming days, said national weather forecasters.

The cold blast is set to hit northern border localities early Monday (March 7) and move further inland during the day.

The cold and high pressure will send temperatures to plunge to 11-13 degrees Celsius in the mountain areas and to 15-17 degrees in the plain.

On March 7-8, northern localities are likely to experience hailstorms, lightning, and strong winds. The meteorological agency warned of the risk of flash floods and landslides in mountainous areas, according to VOV.

A cold spell accompanied by strong winds and light rain is anticipated to strike northern Vietnam on March 7 and last for several days. Photo: VOV

In Hanoi capital, rain is expected to fall overnight till the end of March 7. Nighttime temperatures will drop to 14-15 degrees but daytime temperatures are likely to go up to 23-27 degrees.

Due to temperature differences and rain, humidity will worsen and last for several days in the north.

The meteorological agency said that cold air waves that affect the north in March tend to decrease in intensity and shift to the east, resulting in fog and scattered light rain at night and early morning.

Meanwhile, a heat wave is striking Ho Chi Minh City and some neighboring localities in the south. The heat weave is causing temperatures there to rise to 34-35 degrees during daytime but to fall quickly to 23-26 degrees in the evening.

The heat may increase on a large scale in the second half of March, mostly in the Southeastern localities.

Ho Chi Minh City strengthens Covid-19 prevention and control

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has urged relevant authorities to strengthen Covid-19 pandemic prevention and control amid the domination of Omicron variant.

Rising cases of Covid-19 infections have prompted the municipal People’s Committee on March 4 to issue an urgent document on measures to combat the pandemic.

Relevant authorities across districts and Thu Duc city are required to strictly implement Resolution 128 on safe, flexible adaptation and effective control of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since it is forecasted that more infection chains will be recorded in Ho Chi Minh City, business establishments and schools should take immediate actions to curb the spread of Covid-19 among their communities.

Vaccination progress against Covid-19 has to be accelerated while necessary resources need to be prepared for vaccination for children aged 5 to 11 years old in the near future.

All districts and Thu Duc city authorities should check storage, transport and other facilities as well as human resources needed to ensure safety vaccination protocols are followed, Tang Chi Thuong, Director of the city's Department of Health, said at a press conference late last week, NDO reported.

The city has recorded more than 19,000 Covid-19 cases in 306 schools this week, 97 percent of them children under 12.

Thuong said the positivity rate for Covid-19 in schools was 2.3 percent, and all of children had no or mild symptoms.

Meanwhile, the city has seen a recent surge in daily cases, with 4-5 patients requiring invasive mechanical ventilation every day.

Vaccination progress against Covid-19 has to be accelerated in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: NLD

Thuong expressed concern that the increase in severely ill patients would lead to a rise in fatalities over the next two or three weeks.

He said the city has sought the health ministry’s approval to distribute and sell molnupiravir to patients having prescription from doctors, while waiting for official guidelines on prescribing and distributing the medicine.

Duong Anh Duc, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, has asked all districts and Thu Duc city to take strong measures to reduce the number of Covid-19 cases, and ensure sufficient supply of medicines and medical equipment.

He has also asked the health department to try to protect people in high-risk groups, and the education and training department to ensure safe direct learning at schools.

Localities need to improve the health system’s capacity; strengthen inspection of pandemic prevention and control at production facilities, supermarkets, markets, railway stations and bus stations among other crowded places; and strictly handle violations of Covid-19 prevention and control.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health is responsible for comprehensive treatment and sufficient supply of medical equipment and drugs. Minimizing the number of deaths is the top priority.

The Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Information and Communications is required to coordinate with the Department of Health to raise locals’ awareness on Covid-19 prevention and control.

Locals are not advised to gather or go to crowded places when it is not necessary.

The city had 222 wards and communes classified as low-risk, 77 as medium-risk, and 13 as high-risk zones the previous week (February 21-27).

Under the People’s Committee’s Decision No 3900 issued in November 2021, karaoke parlours, discotheques and bars in high-risk zones have to close in high-risk zones.

Religious activities, weddings, funerals and cultural activities in the 13 high-risk zones must limit the number of participants, while massage and beauty parlours must restrict their activities to 25 per cent of their capacity.

First flights ready to bring Vietnamese citizens home from Ukraine

Two flights repatriating Vietnamese people form Ukraine will depart from Romania and Poland this week.

One flight, conducted by national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, is scheduled to depart from Romania on March 7 transporting 283 Vietnamese citizens. It is expected to arrive at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi at noon on March 8.

The other flight, conducted by Bamboo Airlines, will depart from Poland on March 9 with 270 passengers onboard. It is scheduled to arrive at the Noi Bai airport on March 10 in the morning.

The Government recently approved the policy to arrange flights to bring Vietnamese people from Ukraine home.

With spirit of humanity and placing the highest priority to the protection of Vietnamese citizens, the Government allows the organization of flights repatriating Vietnamese people and their families, cited VNA.

They will receive Covid-19 tests upon their arrival in Vietnam and take necessary medical measures in line with the Ministry of Health’s instructions.

The Government assigned the Ministry of Transport to take the major lead in arranging the flights, while the Ministry of Finance was asked to finance the flights.

As part of efforts to implement the Prime Minister’s direction, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has worked with the Ministry of Transport to conduct the two repatriation flights.

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines is scheduled to conduct the first flight to repatriate Vietnamese people home from Ukraine. Photo: VNA

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to coordinate with agencies to continue to arrange flights to evacuate Vietnamese people and their family members from dangerous areas in Ukraine to neighboring countries, and bring those who wish to return to Vietnam depending on the real situation and capacity of Vietnam.

In recent days, Vietnamese representative offices in Ukraine and neighboring countries have coordinated closely with local authorities and Vietnamese associations in host countries to support the Vietnamese community to evacuate from conflict areas and provide them with temporary accommodations and essential necessities.

As of March 5, more than 2,000 Vietnamese people had been evacuated from fighting zones in Ukraine to neighboring countries. Of them, over 1,000 had arrived in Poland, 370 had come to Romania, 200 had been on the way from Moldova to Romania, about 190 had reached Hungary and about 40 had come to Slovakia.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ group for citizen protection and representative offices are keeping a close watch on the situation and receiving requests from Vietnamese people through citizen protection hotlines.

HCM City Festival honors traditional Vietnamese long dress

A show of Ao Dai (traditional Vietnamese long dress) was held along Nguyen Hue road on March 5 evening, kick-starting the 8th Ao Dai Festival of Ho Chi Minh City.

The opening ceremony saw nearly 200 artists, singers and models wear close to 600 collections of Ao Dai, boasting the beauty of the traditional long dress.

In her remarks, Phan Thi Thang, vice chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City administration, noted that the festival takes place at a time when Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City in particular are flexibly adapting to Covid-19 and gradually restoring socio-economic activities, reported VOV.

“The festival is of special significance as it demonstrates the intense vitality, the spirit of readiness to overcome difficulties and belief in the future of Ho Chi Minh City,” she said.

“The event shows the city’s strong resolve to reinvigorate post-pandemic tourism services in order to turn Ho Chi Minh City into a leading vibrant tourist city in Asia,” she stressed.

Artists and models strut down the catwalk, boatsing the beauty of Ao Dai. Photo: vtv.vn

A series of events of the Festival will be held both virtually and physically in tourist destinations, community areas, schools and others to create conditions for local people to enjoy.

The Ho Chi Minh City Ao Dai Festival is one of the city’s typical tourism - cultural events that has received great attention and enthusiastic response of artists and designers of Ao Dai, cultural researchers, writers, and diplomatic agencies.

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