A man has sample taken for Covid-19 testing. Photo: VNA

Vietnam reports 13,109 new Covid-19 cases

The Ministry of Health announced 13,109 new cases of Covid-19 in Vietnam on November 26, bringing the national tally since the start of the pandemic to 1,181,337.

Another 137 casualties were also reported, raising the country’s death toll to 24,544.

Of the new cases, 7,288 were found in the community and 15 were imported.

Ho Chi Minh City tops the daily case list again with 1,809 new cases, followed by Can Tho city (897) and Binh Duong (707).

The capital city of Hanoi recorded 253 new cases, cited VNA.

The other infections were found in Tay Ninh (655), Ba Ria - Vung Tau (653), Dong Thap (601), Bac Lieu (566), Dong Nai (556), Vinh Long (536), Ben Tre (501), Binh Thuan (496), Soc Trang (493), Kien Giang (418), An Giang (387), Ca Mau (374), Tra Vinh (309), Binh Phuoc (271), Hau Giang (238), Khanh Hoa (216), Dak Lak (181), Bac Ninh (153), Ha Giang (143), Binh Dinh (132), Tien Giang (123), Nghe An (117), Thua Thien Hue (113), Lam Dong (112), Quang Nam (95), Dak Nong (92), Da Nang (92), Quang Ngai (80), Long An (75), Vinh Phuc (62), Quang Tri (57), Thanh Hoa (55), Hung Yen (47), Lang Son (44), Phu Tho (38), Nam Dinh (38), Ninh Thuan (31), Phu Yen (30), Tuyen Quang (28), Quang Binh (28), Quang Ninh (25), Thai Binh (25), Thai Nguyen (22), Gia Lai (21), Ha Tinh (19), Ninh Binh (18), Bac Giang (16), Ha Nam (10), Hai Duong (8 ), Cao Bang (7), Kon Tum (6), Hai Phong (4), Hoa Binh (4), Dien Bien (4), Lao Cai (2) and Yen Bai (1).

The Ministry of Health also reported that 12,368 more patients have now fully recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total number of people given the all-clear to 955,256.

Vietnam has so far administered more than 116.3 million doses of vaccines. More than 47 million citizens are now fully inoculated.

HCM City tightens travel, accommodation management

In wake of rising Covid-19 cases, Ho Chi Minh City will strengthen the review of people coming from other localities and those commuting among districts.

As requested by Deputy Chairman Duong Anh Duc on Tuesday, authorities in each district and Thu Duc City must tighten control of those entering their territories as a proactive Covid-19 response.

Senior Colonel Le Manh Ha, deputy head of HCMC Police Department's Office of the Chief of Staff, said functional forces will not only monitor people's movement from one place to another, but also tighten management of all those who permanently or temporarily reside in a locality.

For the new duty, the city will not set up checkpoints as before but send forces over to each ward and district to check the number of people in each household to better serve the process of contact tracing and isolation in case infections are detected, Ha said.

A police officer scans a QR code on a man's phone to see if he violates the social distancing rule in HCMC's Binh Thanh District, August 2021. Photo: VnExpress

"Such monitoring allows health authorities to have a grasp of the pandemic situation and build suitable response plans."

This will also help the city better prepare vaccines to inoculate migrant workers who return to work in the city after leaving for their hometown during the latest outbreak, according to VnExpress.

District authorities have also kicked off plans to have police inspect people that usually travel between districts.

Nguyen Dong Tung, chairman of Phu Nhuan District, said as many as 90 percent of recent Covid-19 cases recorded in the district include such commuters.

Police in 13 wards of Phu Nhuan have requested hotels, restaurants, and coffee shops to ensure customers complete health declarations via QR code.

In Binh Thanh, deputy chairwoman Thai Thi Hong Nga said the district has recently received many migrants returning to work, and police have increased inspections at hotels and boarding houses to keep track of the number of permanent or temporary residents.

In Cu Chi, chairwoman Pham Thi Thanh Hien said everyone entering the district must complete health declaration procedures. Migrants who have got one vaccine dose in their hometown will get support to be fully vaccinated.

CAAV proposes operating domestic flights normally from 2022

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has proposed the resumption of normal operations on all domestic routes from the beginning of 2022.

According to the proposal submitted to the Ministry of Transport, the number of two-way flights on Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi – Da Nang, and HCM City – Da Nang routes will be increased to 16 per day per route during December 1-14, and to 20 per day per route from December 15-31. Meanwhile, the number of two-way flights on other routes will be no more than nine flight per day per route.

Planes of Vietnamese airlines. Photo: VNA

The CAAV also proposed adjusting regulations on transferring passenger information from the PC-COVID application directly between the Ministry of Information and Communications and localities. Airlines do not need to transfer passenger destination information to the local authorities.

With this proposal, localities can update passenger information by themselves every 30 minutes from the PC-COVID application, reported VNA.

The current flight plan is only applicable until November 30, so airlines would have difficulty in planning their operations in the winter 2021/2022 flight schedule, especially during the Lunar New Year of 2022, the agency said.

At present, most domestic routes can only operate one flight per day.

Vietnam to become fastest growing e-commerce market in SEA by 2026

The US’ website Fiber2Fashion ran an article on November 25 stating that Vietnam is expected to be the fastest growing e-commerce market in Southeast Asia by 2026, with e-commerce gross merchandise value hitting US$56 billion, representing a 4.5 fold-rise of the estimated value this year.

This information was unveiled in the annual SYNC Southeast Asia report released by Facebook and Bain & Company.

The Vietnamese market is currently at the forefront of driving changes and seizing upon opportunities to thrive based on digital transformation as the world moves into the post-pandemic era, the report noted.

The study, which surveyed roughly 16,700 digital consumers and more than 20 C-level employees across six Southeast Asian countries, including 3,579 local participants, described Southeast Asia as a leader of digital transformation in the Asia-Pacific region, with the nation hailed as one of the best performers.

Photo: VOV

Domestically, a total of seven out of 10 consumers enjoy digital access, with the country set to have 53 million digital consumers by the end of the year, Vietnamese media cited the report as saying.

The report went on to outline that the number of goods categories purchased by local consumers online this year went up by 50% compared to 2020, while those being made by online stores domestically also rose by 40% on-year, thereby resulting in a 1.5-fold rise in total online retail sales across the country, cited VOV.

Furthermore, approximately 49% of Vietnamese consumers switched to a new online marketplace within the last three months based on considerations of price incentives, at 45%, product quality, at 34%, and availability of goods, at 33%, according to the report.

The report points out that for the first time, payments using cash are at risk of being dethroned with a significant decrease from 60% in 2020 to only 42% last year. Safety, privacy, and service fees represent the three main concerns of Vietnamese consumers when considering these types of payment.

This year has seen local people spend the majority of time make use of social media, texting, watching videos, shopping online, and emailing, the report said, adding that they used 72% of their time for regular activities at home instead of going out.

HCMC win seventh consecutive national women's football title

A 2-0 victory over Hanoi Watabe on Thursday helped HCMC I WFC claim the national women's football championship for the seventh time in a row.

Before the game, Hanoi were leading the table with the same points as HCMC but had more goals. They only needed a draw to win the championship. Therefore, Hanoi chose a defensive approach to the game. However, with HCMC’s strong firepower, Hanoi couldn’t achieve their target.

HCMC I WFC players pose with the national women's football championship cup on November 25, 2021. Photo by Vietnam Football Federation. Photo: VnExpress

The star in this game was striker Huynh Nhu, who netted two goals to secure the trophy for HCMC.

In the 16th minute, Nhu opened the score with an easy tap-in. Hanoi were forced to attack and seek an equalizer but failed to do so. They conceded another goal early in the second half. This time, Nhu headed it in from a freekick. She scored seven goals in the tournament, VnExpress reported.

This is HCMC’s seventh consecutive national title. They also leveled the record of Hanoi with 10 titles won. Previously, they had also lifted the national cup.

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