Lunar new year stamps

Director Nguyễn Phương Điền on set for the “Lưới Trời” TV drama series. Photo courtesy of nld.com.vn

HCM CITY  Though cinemas have been temporarily closed due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, many television crews have begun producing new content.

Safety at filming studios has been prioritised to reduce the spread of COVID-19, and crews are more flexible about their schedules.

Local TV drama crews have become more experienced working in such a difficult time.

Film director Nguyễn Phương Điền said his crew has gone to Gò Dầu in Tây Ninh Province to film the next scenes of Lưới Trời after the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday.

Lưới Trời consists of 40 episodes, 20 of which were completed by last December.

“Due to the pandemic, we have yet to film footage in crowded residential areas, but have given priority to scenes along the river wharf, village roads or outdoor areas without any people,” he said.

“We have constantly worked with authorities and informed them of our filming schedules while following epidemic prevention regulations. In addition to masks and sanitisers for the whole crew, we have set up barriers outside filming locations to avoid curious crowds,” he added.

The crew plans to stay in Tây Ninh for about 18 days before going to Dầu Giây in Đồng Nai Province and Tấn Châu in Đồng Tháp Province. Since most of the important scenes were filmed before Tết , it is easier for them to film now.

All are serious about protecting their own safety for a smoother filming process, Điền said.

Meanwhile, Vũ Thị Bích Liên, managing director of Mega GS Entertainment and Communication Complex, said that filmimg of director Hoàng Tuấn Cường’s movie, called Thương Con Cá Rô Đồng ”, resumed right after Tết .

Thương Con Cá Rô Đồng is mostly being filmed outdoors without crowds, she said, adding that another movie would be produced in mid-March.

Actress Văn Phượng is currently trying to finish the filming of Phía Cuối Con Đường while preparing for another 50-episode TV drama project in late March.

“I feel under pressure working during the pandemic because I cannot wear a mask while filming with my colleagues. But my crew has been very supportive and has encouraged constant disinfection at the studio. Strangers are not allowed as well,” she said.

Hope for the best

It has been more expensive producing a TV drama during the pandemic compared to other times, experts said. Actor Văn Phượng said that complex scenes with the participation of many people had to be postponed, which added to the cost of production.

“I hope the epidemic will be over soon, the pace of life will return to normal, and locals will feel more secure when it comes to work,” she added.

Writer Thanh Hương said since only a certain number of people could be allocated on set, the organiser must be very efficient.

“I believe the TV drama industry in HCM City will thrive in 2021. Many projects are about to start shooting, unlike the situation where TV dramas have mostly been produced in the North. I am currently completing the script for Nơi Bình Yên Sóng Gió , a TV drama with 100 episodes. The first part, consisting of 40 to 45 episodes, will be filmed in days to come,” she added.

Director Huỳnh Tuấn Anh is also certain about the positive growth of TV dramas and web dramas this year, considering that the pandemic might have caused many investors to hesitate about producing movies.

The number of dramas with large investments and quality casts is gradually increasing, which is  expected to create a new look for the local drama market. – VNS

Ticker VCA of steel producer VICASA – VNSteel, based in the southern province of Dong Nai, will be listed on March 10 with 15.18 million shares at VND13,100 ($0.57) each.

Textile company Tien Son Thanh Hoa (AAT) will be listed on March 24 with nearly 35 million shares at VND10,600 each.

On the same day, 1.2 billion SSB shares of SeaBank will be listed at VND16,800 each.

With the new listing, the main bourse will see its total market cap increase by VND20.8 trillion ($902.76 million).

The listings are expected to create more pressure on HoSE’s 20-year-old system which has suffered frequent overloads due to a surge in the number of investors.

A number of tickers on HoSE are set to be temporarily moved to the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) while the former works to upgrade its system, which could take until the end of the year.

HoSE has also proposed that the minimum trading lot be increased from 100 to 1,000 to reduce the number of transactions.

Since the beginning of the year HoSE has listed 10 new stocks, accounting for a third of the total last year.

Doctor Trần Như Dương, Deputy Director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, head of the special task force of the Ministry of Health sent to Hải Dương Province in the past month, talks to the Vietnam News Agency about the task force’s work and what to expect in the coming months in the fight against COVID-19

Hải Dưong has basically controlled the pandemic and started to move to a new phase of both pandemic prevention and socio-economic development. However, the fight is not over, so what are the risks ahead of us?

Up to now, with huge efforts, we have obtained such remarkable results. However, the risk of another outbreak is still quite possible if we are ignorant or do not continue to implement drastic preventive measures. Besides, with this virus strain, there’s a high rate of healthy people carrying it around without any symptoms. Therefore, the source of transmission might be healthy carriers, which is always a risk to the community and may also cause new cases in the coming time. We must face this fact to always be highly vigilant and proactive. There must be appropriate, feasible and effective measures for both safety and socio-economic development. Therefore, we must always be aware that COVID-19 pandemic prevention on a regular basis is now a part of life under new normal conditions.

As an expert in epidemiology, after more than a month in Hải Dương in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, what were the difficulties in the fight against this outbreak?

The situation in Hải Dương was very complicated and difficult. First, the outbreak was caused by a UK virus strain that is able to spread very quickly and vigorously. Second, according to statistics of the Department of Medical Administration, the rate of healthy people carrying this virus strain this time is twice as high as compared to previous outbreaks, up to 80 per cent of the new cases, so it is extremely difficult to monitor and detect cases through conventional surveillance methods. What we had to do was large-scale and quick testing.

Thirdly, the outbreak was detected late both in Chí Linh City and Cẩm Giàng District, so it caused large transmission, creating a complicated hotspot. In Chí Linh, the outbreak occurred initially in the industrial zone environment, so it was highly infectious and created a great epidemiological connection with the population in many different districts in the province. In Cẩm Giàng, the virus source cane from a karaoke service, so the greater the epidemiological connection is, the more difficult it was for us to track down. Fourth, the outbreaks happened around the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday, so it was even more difficult. In particular, due to the large number of cases in a short time, quarantine and quick testing with F1 cases had to be done timely so it was a huge amount of work.

Hải Dương has made great, drastic and prompt efforts in fighting the pandemic. The province closely followed the guidelines and directions of the Government in implementing anti-pandemic measures and has fought not only for Hải Dương to be safe but also to keep the whole country safe. Up to now, the province has established nearly 11,000 COVID -19 prevention groups in the community with about 2,500 people participating. The establishment and work of these groups is a considerable effort by Hải Dương authorities.

What should Hải Dương do to both fight the pandemic well and maintain socio-economic development?

In the current context, Hải Dương needs to continue updating and completing the overall plan on COVID-19 pandemic prevention of the province, which must include detailed scenarios, situations and assurance of resources and facilities.

The province should continue to thoroughly implement pandemic prevention and control measures according to regulations and properly and fully implement the five strategies set out by the National Steering Committee for pandemic prevention and control. When new cases appear, authorities must immediately handle the outbreak early on and not let transmission spread too far.

It is necessary to maintain the effectiveness and nature of the COVID-19 monitoring and control groups in the community. These groups are extremely important because they are the implementation of a community-based and people-based anti-pandemic strategy. The groups are also an extended arm of the government and the health sector in pandemic prevention. Hải Dương must consider this one of its strategic, fundamental and long-term tasks. The establishment of COVID-19 safety groups in offices, schools and businesses also needs to be effectively maintained.

The province also needs to focus on monitoring, ensuring absolute safety for hospitals and closely monitoring old outbreaks and new outbreaks. It also needs to maintain proper human resources in surveillance systems at all levels to detect new cases immediately. Hải Dương also has to ensure long-term funding for monitoring, sampling and testing COVID-19, because this is a very important indicator of pandemic monitoring. Along with that, it should periodically organise sampling of some groups of people at high risk.

At the same time, the province should enhance its education to local residents about the need to stay vigilant and not let their guard down too early.  VNS