A medic guides a man in HCMC's Binh Thanh District to use a test kit on himself, August 23, 2021. Photo: VnExpress

Vietnam records another 12,017 local Covid cases

The Health Ministry confirmed another 12,017 local Covid-19 patients in 33 localities on Sunday, taking the national tally in the current outbreak to 608,997.

Three localities with the highest numbers of cases were Ho Chi Minh City with 6,158 cases, Binh Duong with 3,199 cases and Dong Nai with 9,704 cases.

Of the day's tally, 6,650 cases were detected in the community with unclear sources of transmission while the rest had been contained in quarantine and lockdown areas. Southern Tien Giang registered to the national database an additional of 548 cases whose samples had previously been tested, cited VnExpress.

The health ministry also confirmed 261 new Covid fatalities, including 200 in Ho Chi Minh City, and 39 in Binh Duong.

Other deaths in the day were five in Long An, six in Dong Nai, three in Binh Thuan, two each in Dong Thap and Tien Giang, and one each in Tra Vinh, Can Tho, Khanh Hoa, and Da Nang.

The coronavirus death toll in Vietnam so far is 15,279, accounting for around 2.5 percent of all cases in the country.

11,116 Covid-19 patients were announced recovered, bringing the total tally of recovered cases so far to 374,578.

Over 28.2 million people have received at least one Covid-19 vaccine shot. Over 5 million people have been fully vaccinated.

Vietnam to purchase Spain’s HIPRA Covid-19 vaccine

T&T PHARMA, a Vietnamese pharmaceutical joint stock company, has inked a contract to purchase 50 million doses of HIPRA, a Covid-19 vaccine produced by Spain’s HYPRA Human Health S.L.U.

HIPRA is a recombinant protein vaccine designed to optimize safety and induce a powerful immune response that neutralizes the virus that causes Covid-19, according to the vaccine manufacturer.

Photo: VNN

Unlike other Covid-19 vaccines, HIPRA will be kept between +2 and + 8ºC, which will facilitate its logistics and distribution.

The Spanish pharmaceutical company began its clinical trial phases in August and expected to complete the process in October. The company hopes to start production in October as soon as clinical trials are complete, and deliver the first batch of 75 million doses by the end of the year, cited VNN.

HYPRA is expected to produce 600-900 million doses in 2022 and 1.2 billion doses by 2023.

President & CEO David Nogareda said that he expects that the vaccine will be licensed for circulation early next year.

Sources say unlike Novavax and Sanofi vaccines, HIPRA has proteins from two different variants to provide superior effectiveness against new strains of the coronavirus.

Preclinical trials in the laboratory and in animals have shown that HIPRA is even effective against the ‘super-infectious’ variant Delta which has spread to more than 130 countries worldwide, including Spain.

Storm Conson downgraded quickly, ravages central coast

Storm Conson was downgraded on September 12 morning before making landfall and ravaging central coastal provinces hours later.

At 10.00 a.m. the storm was swirling around the central coast from Da Nang to Quang Ngai, weakening into a tropical low depression with winds gusting 50kph near its centre.

Risiing floodwaters damage parts of a provincial road in Kon Tum. Photo: VOV

Though Conson is yet to batter the region, its strong winds and heavy rain have over the past hours caused consideration damage to coastal localities, reported VOV.

In Quang Ngai, two fishing boats and a barge tugboat sank at the height of sea surges. A total of 18 people on board these boats were luckily rescued by the local coastguard force.

Strong winds damaged or tore roofs off 23 houses in Thua Thien-Hue and Kon Tum provinces. More than 1,000ha of rice and subsidiary crops in Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Kon Tum were submerged.

Heavy rain triggered landslides, disrupting traffic flows on National Highway No24 and several provincial and inter-commune roads in Kon Tum. Rising floodwaters washed away a woman in Tu Mo Rong district. Her dead body was retrieved hours later.

Local authorities of Quang Ngai evacuated hundreds of residents out of low-lying areas at risk of flooding in Tra Bong, Ba To and Binh Son districts.

Weather forecasters say widespread rainfall of 100-200mm is possible over much of the central region. Higher amounts are likely in localities from Da Nang to Quang Ngai.

Khanh Hoa to welcome back foreign tourist with Covid-19 vaccine passport

The Party leadership of the south-central province of Khanh Hoa has given the green light to a scheme to receive back foreign visitors with a vaccine passport in the new normal status.

Under a scheme drafted by the Khanh Hoa Department of Tourism, foreign visitors will come to Khanh Hoa on charter flights. Priority will be given to groups of tourists who choose to stay at beach resorts, use self-contained services, play golf, and rarely move.

The visitors are required to be fully vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, with the last dose to be given for at least 14 days and not more than 12 months from the time of entry, VOV reported.

Khanh Hoa is expected to soon welcome back foreign visitors with a vaccine passport. Photo: VOV

The vaccination certificate must be issued by a competent authority in the country where the vaccine is administered. The vaccine must be approved for use by either the World Health Organization, the US Centers for Disease Control, the European Medicines Agency of the Ministry of Health.

In addition, international travelers must have health insurance or Covid-19 insurance with a minimum coverage of VND200 million (US$8778) for medical treatment and hospital expenses.

The provincial Party leadership has assigned the Khanh Hoa provincial administration to complete the scheme for submission and approval.

Khanh Hoa is known as one of the most attractive beach tourism destinations in Vietnam. It attracts many domestic and foreign tourists by its warm sunny weather, long and beautiful coastline, many scenic spots, and typical cultural identities.

Among its destinations, Nha Trang is one of the most beautiful bays in the world.

Vietnam among 10 countries with largest cross-border data transfer

Vietnam has been among the top 10 countries in terms of cross-border data transfer in the past decade.

Head of the Institute for Policy Studies and Media Development (IPS) Nguyen Quang Dong cited data from Nikkei Asia financial newspaper in a recent webinar focusing on cross-border data transfer and privacy protection held by the IPS as saying

The event aimed to find measures to protect users’ data safety and privacy without affecting the flow of data, deemed an artery of the digital economy.

The flow benefits the development of international trade as part of the global economy, but also poses challenges to Vietnam in terms of policies, according to VNA.

Vietnam has been among the top 10 countries in terms of cross-border data transfer in the past decade. Photo: vneconomy.vn

Therefore, seeking a suitable pathway is key to the country’s digital economy development.

Digital economy surged to US$14 billion last year from just US$3 million recorded in 2015, according to President of the Vietnam Digital Communications Association Nguyen Minh Hong. The figure is forecast to hit US$52 billion by 2025.

Balance between data exchange, including personal and cross-border data, and privacy protection in a bid to strengthen users’ trust, is among the topics for building policies in Vietnam.

In the absence of protection mechanisms, the risks of data abuse will be tremendous for users, communities and countries, said Hong, who is also the former Deputy Minister of Information and Communications.

Vietnam’s building of legal regulations on cross-border data transfer are still in the initial phase, experts said.

The country should work to realize the twin targets of promoting the free flow of data for digital economy development, and ensuring safety and privacy for users, Dong said, adding supplementary measures should also be considered in the sector.

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