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Endangered doucs enjoy idyllic lives thanks to Covid-19

February 28, 2021 by e.vnexpress.net

Multiple red-shanked doucs could be spotted at Bach Ma National Park in north central Thua Thien-Hue Province at the start of spring.

Nguyen Vu Linh, director of the national park, said there are around 12 troops of doucs with over 128 individuals. Around six troops, amounting to over 85 doucs, reside in the Bach Ma mountain area inside the park.

“The troops of doucs only returned to the mountains three to four years ago. It means the ecosystem here has been protected well,” Linh said.

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, few visitors have toured the park recently, allowing the doucs to forage further afield.

A douc hangs from a tree branch.

The doucs instinctively seek out young leaves to feed on. A loud noise would cause the entire troop to flee the scene.

Many photographers take advantage of the quiet park for creative inspiration. Some even traversed jungles deep within the reserve, hoping to capture the daily lives of doucs.

Besides photographers, foreign researchers have also been visiting for months at a time to study the doucs and their behavior.

Spanning 37,500 hectares and covered by evergreen tropical and subtropical rainforests, Bach Ma National Park affords red-shanked doucs the ideal habitat within which to thrive.

Besides red-shanked doucs, the park is also home to several other endangered animal species. Researchers said the reserve harbors over 1,700 animal species, accounting for 7 percent of all species currently in Vietnam. A total 69 species are named in the Red List of Threatened Species, including dholes, leopards and saola. Fifteen species are endemic to Vietnam, mostly birds.

AEON Vietnam support the consumption of Hai Duong agricultural products

February 27, 2021 by bizhub.vn

Customers buy farm produce to help Hai Duong farmers at AEON – Long Bien, Ha Noi. — Photo AEON Vietnam

To support farmers in the COVID-19 hit region of Hai Duong, grocery giant AEON is selling their produce for zero profit.

The move comes after many farmers in the region have been unable to shift their stock, due to lockdown restrictions in the area.

Over the past three days, 43 tonnes of farm produce, including cabbage, kohlrabi, carrots, tomatoes, guava pears, have been trucked to big cities for sale.

Products are being sold at AEON – Long Biên, AEON – Ha Dong and AEON MaxValu Express Riverside Supermarket (Thanh Xuan, Ha Noi) and AEON MaxValu Express EcoPark (Hung Yen).

The items are being sold at low prices, to ensure profits are solely for the farmers.

Tran Thu Quynh, Northern Merchandising General Manager at AEON Vietnam, said: “Understanding the difficulties of farmers in Hai Duong, AEON Vietnam would like to join hands to support and promote the consumption of their agricultural products.

“We hope the COVIDD-19 situation will become more positive, and the lives of the people here will become stable again.”

To ensure customer’s safety, AEON Vietnam keeps maintaining and strengthening prevention measures in accordance with government regulations at all of its business locations nationwide as well as during the transportation of agricultural products.

In February 2020, AEON Vietnam also participated in the activity of “rescue” agricultural products for farmers in the Southern provinces. In just five days last February, the company consumed nearly 20 tonnes of dragon fruit and nearly 60 tonnes of watermelon. — VNS

Leaving big cities: A transitory fad or a consistent trend?

February 28, 2021 by english.thesaigontimes.vn

Leaving big cities: A transitory fad or a consistent trend?

By Nguyen Minh Hoa

Living closer to nature or in the countryside is now a way of life – PHOTO: THANH HOA

Titles such as “Farewell to Moscow,” “Departing Seoul,” or “Goodbye Kuala Lumpur” have made the headlines in the international press these days, suggesting a phenomenon in which many people left metropolises for the countryside. In Vietnam, a similar fact has also happened when residents departed HCMC and Hanoi to live in rural areas. Most of them did so because of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, will they return to their cities after the pandemic is over?

The industrial revolution which broke out in Europe and North America at the beginning of the 17th century also triggered the mass exodus from villages to cities which were huge industrial hubs. Ever since, such a move, be it fast or slow, has never halted. The world is now home to truly “megacities” that may house up to 40% of the national population with Seoul being a single example. In Europe, the urban population rate of over 70% is now the established norm.

Yet big cities have been facing with mounting pressures, such as high unemployment rates, unstable income, expensive living costs, environmental pollution, and traffic jams and accidents. According to sociologists, each urbanite has to shoulder from 20 to 30 extremely high risks every day—food poisoning, drug overdose, traffic and pit accidents, fires, building collapses, dog bites, and terrorism, to name but a few.

It was perhaps these piling pressures that started the big homecoming trend at the end of the 20th century. Last year, Covid-19 helped this trend swiftly gather momentum both in scale and pace.

Previously, homecoming or returning to the countryside involved mostly the elderly or the retired. Nowadays, returnees are also a considerable number of young people, which makes it more hectic. Rendered jobless by the global pandemic, hundreds of millions of people have to endure social distancing, constrain themselves in tiny apartments, confront permanent risks and be beset with problems on children’s safety. All these headaches have prompted many to find the countryside as an escape.

By returning to the countryside, urbanites are able to comply with social distancing regulations while enjoying fresh air and safe food, and maintaining better social relations. What’s more, they can do what they previously couldn’t in a city. That is, they can plant vegetables, raise animals or grow their favorite flowers. That is, all family members can sit together around a table for dinner, sip a cup of coffee and watch sunrise in the morning, read favorite books, and pay a visit to their rural neighbors, or a field, a brook or a hill. What a wonderful life!

Of the people who have returned to the countryside as a way to escape the pandemic, many will come back to cities when the pandemic is over. Yet some will remain in line with a new trend called “ecological lifestyle.” In developed countries, not only in the Western world but also in some Asian nations like Japan and South Korea, the concept of urban villages has resurfaced. Coming on stream are small towns whose population is a couple of ten thousands of or several thousands of residents. In these green towns, residents practice hi-tech agriculture, reinstate tradition values, reduce processed food, opt for folk songs and folk dances, and live in harmony with one another and with nature. This life is appealing to even young people in developed countries. It is the “leaving cities for villages” phenomenon in this time of epidemic that has contributed significantly to the restoration of the trio of farmers, agriculture and rural areas, an immense value of humankind which has been so far ignored in many places.

The Covid-19 pandemic has forced us to come to realize the real value of agriculture and rural areas as a firm foundation for not only a nation but also humans as a whole. When attacked by the coronavirus, people have realized that countries relying on industries, commerce and services are the most vulnerable. Agriculture-based nations seem to have been less affected. Otherwise, their recovery pace is also quicker.

Currently, in the midst of Covid-19, several countries, such as Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, have proceeded with plans to develop “landless” agriculture. In Vietnam, despite the economic losses inflicted by the coronavirus, the economy still posted a positive growth rate, at 2.9% which was among the highest in the world. In the case of Vietnam, agriculture was one of the few sectors which contributed remarkably by earning US$45 billion worth of farm exports. Although this absolute figure might be lower than in some others industries, its socio-economic significance was enormous because agriculture is largely a “renewable” economic sector.

During the time spent in Denmark and Sweden, the author of this article was passionately briefed by local scientists, urbanists and architects on this category of economy. Their classic example was the concept of “one human life cycle – three plant life cycles.” The average lifespan of a human lasts 70 years. If this person grows the first tree at 10 years old, he or she will be able to grow three plant life cycles which can be used for constructions. Reversely, if a building is erected using cement, steel and sand, it will contribute to the destruction of hills, mountains and mines, which will never be seen again once they disappear. Meanwhile, if somebody fells a tree to be used as material and grows three more trees, he or she will get three similar trees in 10 or 15 years.

Likewise, land, orchards and fish ponds will be there if you know how to treasure them. Once exploited reasonably, they will generate properties and assets.

It is not by chance that the Covid-19 pandemic is an opportunity, albeit an irritating one, which offers humankind a chance to look back at themselves, and restructure mindset and rearrange economic foundation for the sake of sustainability and flexibility. In this process, the restoration of the “agricultural trio” plays the central role.

Hopes for “homecoming” is by no means a transitory fad when people are trying to seek a safe haven during a deadly pandemic. Yet it is a way to develop sustainably a diverse economy capable of withstanding any fluctuation caused by the weather, natural calamities or epidemics.

Millionaire story of a “buffalo boy”

February 28, 2021 by vietnamnet.vn

A man from the southwestern region of Vietnam started his business with a female buffalo that was then extended to hundreds of buffaloes, earning him annual revenue of over a billion VND.

Though busy during the last days of the lunar year, Mr. Nguyen Hong Ngu, a resident of Long My district in Hau Giang province, spent time to tell us his “destiny”: becoming wealthy from buffaloes.

Resting on a meadow, he shared his childhood memory about buffaloes. When he grew up, he chose the buffalo to start his business.

“Twenty-seven years ago, Luong Nghia land was so heavily contaminated with alum that there was only one crop per annum. Only about 600 kilograms of grain per labor per crop were harvested. What frustrated me was thzt no buffalo was available for the crops.

Back then, I had just got married. I decided to take the money and gold received from the wedding to purchase a female buffalo for VND5 million. I just thought of using the buffalo for our own crop, not yet getting rich from it,” said Ngu.

The buffalo was not only used for his own farm. It was rented by his neighbors too. At the end of the harvest, Ngu bought nearly one tael of gold. A couple months later, the buffalo got pregnant. Ngu started to develop her breed. “So far, I have had a herd of hundreds of buffaloes. The first buffalo was dead after delivering 16 calves.”

His buffaloes are raised in different southern provinces, namely Hau Giang, An Giang, Dong Thap, etc. for trade convenience. Every day, the buffaloes are out in the grass field and soak in the water for about an hour. Then, they return to the stables for the lawn. “Cutting lawns is a hard job but does not cost much money as food does for pigs, chicken, and ducks,” said Ngu.

Ngu uses 20 acres of land for grass for the buffaloes. When there is no grass on the meadow, he has to buy rice roots from newly harvested fields. During these times, the buffaloes are well fed and chubby.

VND3 billion house from buffalo sale

Ngu bought cheap thin and weak buffaloes to nurture them. He sells them when they are healthy and meaty. Annually, he sells 500 buffaloes for meat, bringing him a profit of over VND500 million (nearly $25,000). He also sells the calves of 40 female buffaloes, earning about VND600 million.

Other strong and healthy male buffaloes are rented out for crops. “At the year end, those male buffaloes return to me. They don’t cost my energy or time but bring income.” Totally, he earns more than a billion per annum.

From his childhood experience, Ngu knows what buffaloes like and how to take care of them. Understanding them well, he can sell them at a better price than other people. “The good and healthy buffalo has small hips and big buttocks. Buffaloes are gentle when meeting humans,” said Ngu.

Nowadays, Ngu owns such a huge number of buffaloes that whenever tens of buffaloes are caught in the West, they probably belong to him. Whenever there is a good meadow, there are Ngu’s buffaloes. They are a great asset. Thanks to the business, he owns 200 acres of land.

The cost of a female buffalo is about VND50 million. A young female buffalo costs VND30-VND40 million. “I sold 110 young female buffaloes for over VND3 billion to build a house. My family has a better life from the buffalo business. Whenever I hear about land opportunity, I sell some buffaloes for land,” said Ngu.

Chuyện làm giàu của tỷ phú trâu ở miền Tây ai nghe cũng mê

Mr. Ngu and his buffaloes.

Thien Chi

Young man taking care of ailing mother in dire need of help

February 28, 2021 by dtinews.vn

A young man in the northern province of Phu Tho is calling for support as his mother is facing cervical cancer, while his family is too poor to cover the treatment fees.

Ha Quang Duy, 19, from Cam Khe District’s Dieu Luong Commune is taking care of his mother Nguyen Thi Dung, 55, who is suffering cervical cancer.

Since Tet Holiday, Dung’s condition has worsened, but her family is now in debt, so she has to stay at home.

Dung and her son

Dung’s disease was detected in October last year when it had serious complications. Since then, she has already undergone surgery and six radiography treatments.

“My mother is living in great pain these days, but I don’t know what to do to help her, instead of giving her pain killers,” Duy said in tears.

According to Duy, his father died of liver cancer when he was just three years old. His two sisters are married, leaving him to be the family breadwinner who will have to repay the debt.

Duy said that before being ill, his mother had to do different kinds of jobs to support the family.

Ha Van Lam, chairman of Dieu Luong Commune People’s Committee, said Dung’s family faces great difficulties. He hoped that donors could assist them.

If you can help please donate through: 1. Code 4029 : Ha Quang Duy 2. Dantri/DTiNews

3. Dantri/DTiNews’ representative offices

Third wave of coronavirus in Vietnam likely to end by late March

February 28, 2021 by dtinews.vn

The latest wave of COVID-19 infections in Vietnam is likely to come to an end in late March, according to Professor and Head of the Ho Chi Minh City Delegation of National Assembly Deputies, Nguyen Thien Nhan.

Professor Nhan has written an article giving his assessment on the third wave of coronavirus in Vietnam. Nhan Dan Online introduces the full-text of the article as follows.

On January 27, the third wave of COVID-19 infections in Vietnam began, when two cases of community infection were found in the two northern neighbouring provinces of Hai Duong and Quang Ninh. On January 28, there were 91 more cases of community infection, and a day later, 61 more were found. Subsequently, local infections spread to 11 other provinces and cities and on February 17, the total number of COVID-19 infections being treated in hospitals was 710. After February 17, the number of infected cases began to decrease gradually, although it saw some fluctuation. Because the level of infection in Vietnam is very low globally speaking and from its experience in responding to the second wave of infections in Vietnam (from July 27 to September 23, 2020), when the number of patients treated in hospitals reached its peak, the infection trend will gradually decrease and this wave of the coronavirus will end in about 60 days. However, in order to predict the development of the third infection wave in Vietnam, it is necessary to analyse the evolution of COVID-19 in the provinces and cities with the largest number of community infection in Hai Duong, Quang Ninh, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

1. COVID-19 evolution in Hai Duong

The development of the COVID-19 infections in Hai Duong, relative to the number of infected cases being treated in hospitals, reflects two trends. One is infection in the community. As infections increase, the number of patients going to hospitals will increase as well as the number of people being treated, and vice versa. Second is the effectiveness of the treatment of infected cases in hospitals. If the treatment is highly effective, the number of patients discharged will be high, thus reducing the number of remaining individuals undergoing treatment. The risk of infection to the community will decrease and vice versa.

With a population of 1.9 million, Hai Duong’s safety threshold is 19 COVID-19 patients being treated in hospitals (equivalent to 10 infected per 1 million people). On the first day of the new outbreak, only five in Hai Duong were being treated, but by the second day, 77 more were being treated in hospitals, 8.5 times higher than the epidemic safety threshold. That means the level of community infection in Hai Duong on January 28 was far too high.

By February 18, the total number of infected cases being treated was 497, equal to 26 times the safe level and meaning the epidemic had peaked. After that, the number of patients tended to decrease. In the coming days, there may be new cases of infections in the community in Hai Duong. However, if Hai Duong drastically implements measures that help decrease the number of patients on a downward trend as at its current level, combined with adjustments until the number of patients being treated are at a lower level than the safety threshold (19 patients), it can be predicted that the COVID-19 outbreak in Hai Duong will end at the end of March.

Within 23 days, from January 27 to February 18 (the epidemic peak), the average increase of patients treated was 21.4 a day. In Da Nang, the epicentre of Vietnam’s second wave of COVID-19 infection last year, the average rate of increase was 14.6 per day. However, from these two figures, it is nonsense to conclude that the outbreak in Hai Duong is spreading more rapidly, 1.5 times faster (21.4 compared to 14.6) than Da Nang. The population of Hai Duong and Da Nang are different, so it is impossible to compare the average rate of increase in the number of COVID-19 patients being treated in the two localities.

To compare the rate of COVID-19 infection in two countries or two localities, it is necessary to refer to the infection rate per 1 million people. If taking the number of infections being treated in the US with a population of 331 million on December 27, 2020 at 7.68 million, compared with the figure in Belgium with a population of 11.5 million at 575,408, it is incorrect to say that the US has a higher rate of COVID-19 infection than Belgium. Per 1 million people, the US has 23,208 COVID-19 patients currently being treated, and the figure for Belgium is 49,778. That is, the intensity of the epidemic in Belgium is twice as high as that of the US.

Hai Duong’s population is 1.9 million, and per 1 million people, the average increase in the number of COVID-19 patients receiving treatment, from the start of the third wave to the time the epidemic reached its peaks, was 11.26 per day per 1 million people (21.4 infections per day from a total of 1.9 million people), that is, out of 1 million people in Hai Duong, on average there was 11.26 additional infections each day. Da Nang’s population is 1.14 million, so the average increase in the of COVID-19 patients receiving treatment was 12.8/day/1 million people (14.6/day/1.14 million) during the second wave, higher than Hai Duong (11.26/day/1 million people) in this third wave. If one does not include the number of recovered cases during the outbreak, the average infection per 1 million people per day in Hai Duong was 13.4 new cases, while in Da Nang it was 14.8 new cases a day. That means the rate of epidemic spread in Da Nang was higher than in Hai Duong.

2. Evolution of COVID-19 in Quang Ninh

On January 27, Quang Ninh had only one new case of community infection, but a day later, 12 more were confirmed, higher than the safety threshold of 11. That is, after only two days since the new outbreak began in the community, Quang Ninh was already considered an epidemic hotspot. On February 11, the epidemic reached its peak with 59 infected people being treated, 5.17 times higher than the safety level (compared to Hai Duong, the epidemic prevalence rate was much lower, because the number of people being treated in Hai Duong at the time of the new pandemic wave’s peak was at 497 people, 26 times more than the safety threshold). After February 11, the number of patients being treated in Quang Ninh tended to decrease gradually. If Quang Ninh continues to maintain its prevention measures, with adjustments as needed, until the number of patients being treated is lower than the epidemic safety threshold (11 patients receiving treatment), the outbreak in Quang Ninh should end in early March.

3. Infection evolution in Ho Chi Minh City

With a population of more than 9 million, Ho Chi Minh City’s pandemic safety threshold is 90 COVID-19 patients being treated in hospitals. According to statistics, this number increased sharply after February 7, when infections were discovered among the cargo handling staff at Tan Son Nhat Airport. However, the number of patients being treated never exceeded 50 and the outbreak peaked on February 13 with 48 patients being treated. That means, Ho Chi Minh City had no serious outbreak announced. The rate of patients receiving treatment per 1 million people when the outbreak reached its peak was 5.33, equal to 2% of Hai Duong’s level at the peak (261 patients per 1 million people). 12 days have passed (since February 11) and Ho Chi Minh City has not recorded any new cases of community infection. It is forecast that in the last week of February there will be more recovered patients discharged and by the end of February, the number of patients being treated will be at the same level as prior to February 7 (no more than 15).

4. Evolution of COVID-19 infection in Hanoi

Because of its position near Hai Duong, two days after the first infections detected in Hai Duong (January 27), Hanoi also recorded its first community infections and new cases increased gradually, peaking on February 15 with 36 patients undergoing treatment. Hanoi’s epidemic safety threshold is 80 COVID-19 patients, so there was no widespread transmission in the capital city. The percentage of patients being treated per 1 million people in Hanoi at this time is 4.5, lower than in Ho Chi Minh City (5.33) and equal to 1.7% of Hai Duong when the outbreak reached its peak (261 per 1 million people). It is forecast that in early March, the number of infections being treated in Hanoi will decrease to the level prior to January 29 (no more than 10 patients).

5. General assessment

Firstly, the third wave of COVID-19 infections in Vietnam originated from two localities with community infections, Hai Duong and Quang Ninh, discovered on January 27, then spread to 11 other provinces and cities. As of February 23, 811 cases of infection had been detected, of which 627 were in Hai Duong (accounting for 77.3% of the total), 61 in Quang Ninh (7.5%), 36 in Ho Chi Minh City (4.4%), 35 in Hanoi (4.3%), 27 in Gia Lai (3.3%), six in Binh Duong, five cases in Bac Ninh, Hai Phong with four, Dien Bien three, Hoa Binh with two, Bac Giang with two, Hung Yen with two and Ha Giang two. The two localities with the highest rates of infection per 1 million people were Hai Duong with 330 infections per 1 million people and Quang Ninh with 53.5 per 1 million people. They are also considered the two localities with widespread COVID-19. The rest, though recording infections at different rates were practically not seeing widespread transmission, as infections were always below epidemic safety levels in each respective locality (10 patients treated per 1 million people).

Hai Duong and Quang Ninh accounted for 84.8% of the total number of community infections as of February 23. Eight provinces and cities with the number of people infected at six or below have a total of 25 cases, equalling 3.08% of the whole country’s total infections. The remaining 50 provinces and cities have had no community infection, accounting for 79% of the total number of provinces and cities nationwide. Vietnam is experiencing its third wave of COVID-19 infections, but there is no large-scale epidemic prevalence, only the two provinces of Hai Duong and Quang Ninh have seen widespread outbreaks.

Secondly, with the efforts and determination of 13 provinces and cities, the active support of the health sector across the country, the clear and concise direction of the Government, and collective experience against outbreaks in the previous two waves, the third wave is likely to be terminated by the end of March, that is, after about 60 days (January 27 – March 27), like the two waves before (first wave: 58 days, second wave: 59 days).

It is expected that in Ho Chi Minh City, by the end of February, the situation will return to normal, and in Hanoi and Quang Ninh in early March, while Hai Duong should do so by the end of March. Exports, business operations, transport and entertainment activities can resume in a new normal state in accordance with the above forecasted timelines.

Thirdly, the risk of a new wave of COVID-19 infections still exists, if Vietnam does not promptly and strictly control entry into the country, including both official and illegal cases, to eliminate and minimise the risk of entries bringing infections into the community.