Expat germany

In the five years that he has lived and worked in Vietnam, Daniel Woollacott has developed a tradition of “escaping” Tet , when shops and services are normally shut down and major cities become deserted for a few days.

But this year, he has decided to stay behind in Hanoi, dropping plans to go to Phu Quoc Island in the south.

His decision is influenced by the latest Covid-19 outbreak in Vietnam.

“No one can be in the mood for vacationing now, so I will try to enjoy my first Tet in Hanoi,” Woollacott said, adding that it would be exciting to see the capital become quiet on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

The 31-year-old Brit is among a host of expats getting to celebrate the traditional Vietnamese holiday differently this year. Many have canceled or postponed their travel plans, not wanting to risk contracting the novel coronavirus.

Foreigners celebrate Lunar New Year in HCMC. Photo by VnExpress/Tam Linh.

“I had planned to go to Hue, but seeing the surging number of Covid-19 cases, especially in airports, I decided to stay in Hanoi,” said Ashley Jones, English teacher at an international school in Hanoi’s Long Bien District.

“It is a pandemic, not a holiday,” she said, adding she does not want to be infected by the virus and stay in hospitals for weeks instead of going to school and seeing her students.

In a 140,000-member Facebook group of expats living in Hanoi, many netizens who have had an earlier than scheduled start to their Tet outbreak are calling on others to be responsible with their planned trips.

Several have chosen to stay behind, meet friends in town or just stay at home and minimize infection risks.

Expats in Hanoi and Saigon know that the two cities become “ghost towns” for the festival as stores and services are shut, so they have stocked up on food.

Just three days before Tet , Monday evening, HCMC recorded 25 new Covid-19 cases, prompting authorities to close bars, karaoke parlors, cinemas and discotheques. They have also banned religious events starting Tuesday.

This is the second time the city has stopped all non-essential services, the first being last March.

In its latest outbreak, Vietnam has confirmed 553 Covid-19 cases in 13 cities and provinces since January 28.

“It is a relief after the usual hustle and bustle of Saigon with its incessant honking; the only drawback is that no restaurants and stores open,” said Tim Edward, an HR consultant in HCMC.

The Canadian man spent the Lunar New Year’s Eve playing board games with housemates before taking a walk to “enjoy the silent city and beautiful festive decorations.”

Many expats in Saigon said they were initially disappointed that the city shut down all bars and discotheques , but agreed that it was a necessary step.

“I will stay at home and binge Netflix until the holiday is over. All the food I need is in my fridge,” Edward said.

Let’s get traditional

Without a vacation for the ” Tet escape,” many expats are now excited to be part of local Lunar New Year traditions with their Vietnamese friends.

In Hanoi, Simon Stewart of the U.K. has been invited to become the first person to visit his colleague’s house in the Lunar New Year, a tradition that is called ” xong dat ” in Vietnamese.

“I understand that ‘ xong dat ’ is a crucial event and feel honored to be chosen to visit my colleague’s house,” he said.

He has been asked to wear colorful clothes and bring some li xi (lucky money) for the colleague’s children.

“I was trying to find an ao dai but there was no suitable size, so I have opted for a brown suit,” he said, adding he has asked a friend to get him some new notes to give li xi to the children.

“And they’ve given me a banh chung that I’ll have for my breakfast,” he said, smiling.

Nguyen Hue flower street in District 1, one of the biggest annual draws in Vietnam’s southern metropolis to herald Tet. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran.

Some expats are immersing themselves in the Tet culture, becoming part of local families.

“Because Tet is all about families,” said Phillip Flanders, who will stay with his Vietnamese girlfriend’s family in Hanoi during the holiday.

For his first Tet in Hanoi after living in Vietnam for nearly three years, Flanders helped his girlfriend make boiled chicken and spring rolls.

“This is the first time I have seen the rituals of offering food and joss money to forefathers,” he said.

He also helped his girlfriend clean up the house, buy a kumquat tree, and lent a hand in making banh chung .

But the expats are also imposing limits on themselves, given the Covid-19 situation.

In Hanoi, those visiting their friends’ families or eating outside are wearing masks. Stewart has rejected all gatherings with his colleagues, while Flanders refused to go to pagodas with his girlfriend’s family over Covid-19 fears.

Hanoi residents have been asked to stay home and limit travel during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday as a Covid-19 precaution.

In Saigon, Edward will visit the city’s famous Nguyen Hue flower street in District 1 with a Vietnamese friend this weekend.

“I am worried about the spread of the virus, but I do not want to miss beautiful moments in Saigon, so I will wear a mask and maintain social distancing,” he said.

By Thai An

Vietnam will reap benefits from Germany’s latest committed donation, worth around US$1.8 billion, to the global fight against COVID-19, the German Embassy said in a press release on Tuesday.

“Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged that Germany will contribute an additional 1.5 billion euros [$1.82 billion] in the fight against COVID-19 at the G7 digital summit on Feb. 19, 2021,” the press release reads.

Most of this sum, around one billion euros ($1.2 billion), will go to the global vaccine facility COVAX, co-led by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization and World Health Organization, to ensure low- and middle-income countries have access to COVID-19 vaccines.

Another portion will be used for diagnostic tools and medication to treat the respiratory disease.

The contribution will enable COVAX to procure more jabs, distribute the doses, and support progress in vaccine research looking at virus mutations.

This makes Germany one of the largest donors.

Vietnam will also benefit, as it is eligible to receive vaccines through COVAX as a lower-middle-income country.

COVAX has agreed to supply Vietnam with 30 million vaccine doses in 2021, according to Vietnamese Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long.

It has sent a letter confirming that 4.8 million of these vaccine shots will be shipped to the country in the first and second quarter of 2021, while the rest are expected to arrive in the third and fourth quarter.

“We are not safe unless everyone is safe,” Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas was quoted as saying in the press release.

“That is why there can only be global responses to global crises like the coronavirus pandemic.

“For this reason, the German government is backing a joint, multilateral approach, namely the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) coordinated by the World Health Organization.”

It is best suited to provide fair and equitable global access to vaccines and other important tools for pandemic response, Maas said.

“The German government is now providing an additional 1.5 billion euros for this platform. 110 million euros of this will come from the Federal Foreign Office,” the diplomat announced.

Most of this will be provided for vaccines for people in humanitarian crises.

With 10 million euros, Germany is supporting the World Health Organization’s emergency fund, which WHO can use flexibly and at short notice.

Germany will continue to work with its European and international partners to ensure fair, affordable, and global access to vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics.

To date, only 0.5 percent of vaccinations have taken place in poorer countries.

However, the goal is to immunize at least 20 percent of the population by the end of the year.

Funding for this has not yet been secured, even after the G7 summit.

To continue its work successfully in 2021, the COVAX vaccine platform needs a total of $27.7 billion.

Germany’s contribution is therefore an important signal for other countries and international institutions, as well as the private sector, to continue participating in this initiative.

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MANILA — The Philippines will let thousands of its healthcare workers, mostly nurses, take up jobs in Britain and Germany if the two countries agree to donate much-needed coronavirus vaccines, a senior official said on Tuesday.

The Philippines, which has among Asia’s highest number of coronavirus cases, has relaxed a ban on deploying its healthcare workers overseas, but still limits the number of medical professionals leaving the country to 5,000 a year.

Alice Visperas, director of the labour ministry’s international affairs bureau, said the Philippines was open to lifting the cap in exchange for vaccines from Britain and Germany, which it would use to inoculate outbound workers and hundreds of thousands of Filipino repatriates.

Nurses are among the millions of Filipinos who work overseas, providing in excess of $30 billion a year in remittances vital to the country’s economy.

“We are considering the request to lift the deployment cap, subject to agreement,” Visperas told Reuters .

Britain is grappling with the world’s sixth-highest coronavirus death toll and one of the worst economic hits from the pandemic, while Germany has the 10th most infections globally.

While the two countries have inoculated a combined 23 million people, the Philippines has yet to start its campaign to immunise 70 million adults, or two-thirds of its 108 million people. It expects to receive its first batch of vaccines this week, donated by China.

The Philippines wants to secure 148 million doses of vaccines altogether.

The British embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment while calls to Germany’s mission went unanswered.

In 2019, almost 17,000 Filipino nurses signed overseas work contracts, government data showed.

While Filipino nurses have fought to lift the deployment ban to escape poor working conditions and low pay at home, the workers-for-vaccine plan has not gone down well with some medical workers.

“We are disgusted on how nurses and healthcare workers are being treated by the government as commodities or export products,” Jocelyn Andamo, secretary general of the Filipino Nurses United, told Reuters .

Germany’s vaccine regulator should recommend within days that the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine can be given to people older than 65 as evidence mounts of its efficacy, Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Wednesday.

Data from Britain show that the jab works “very well” in older people, Spahn told German television, adding that he had asked the regulator to adjust its recommendation accordingly so the vaccine can be rolled out quickly to those over 65.

“If we could vaccinate the over-65-year-olds with AstraZeneca, that would really speed things up and protect the most vulnerable more quickly,” he said.

The German policy that the AstraZeneca vaccine be given only to people aged 18 to 64 has led to a low take-up of available doses, slowing vaccination efforts, prompting the government last week to urge the public to accept the jabs.

On Tuesday, the French health minister said the country will allow people under 75 with existing health problems to get the AstraZeneca vaccine, departing from an earlier stance that the vaccine should be for the under-65s only.

The reassessment is likely to help speed up France’s vaccination campaign which many have criticized as too slow.

Britain has been rolling out the AstraZeneca vaccine since January, beginning with the elderly and health workers, after approving its use for all adults.

Spahn is also in favour of adopting the British practice of extending the time between the first and second jabs so that more people can be protected quickly, both for the AstraZeneca vaccine and that made by Pfizer/BioNTech.