Midnight cowboys

Second VnExpress Marathon Hanoi Midnight begins super early-bird ticket sales

February 15, 2021 by e.vnexpress.net

The marathon, organized by VnExpress and Hanoi People’s Committee, expected to take place on Nov. 21, has begun selling Super Early Bird tickets, ranging from VMD270,000 ($11.76) to VND810,000 ($35.28). Ticket prices are expected to increase in later stages, encouraging runners to register early and have a head start in preparing for the race.

Ticket types	Super Early Bird	Early Bird	Regular	Late
5 km	270,000*	325,000	430,000	540,000
10 km	540,000	700,000	865,000	1,080,000
21 km	650,000	810,000	1,025,000	1,295,000
42 km	810,000	975,000	1,190,000	1,405,000

*Vietnamese dong

Interested runners can register here .

Groups of over 100 people would be offered discounts of up to 28 percent, groups of 50-100 people 20 percent, groups of 30-49, 15 percent, and groups of 10-29, 10 percent.

VM Hanoi Midnight on Nov. 28 last year was the first big night marathon staged in Vietnam, with around 5,500 participants and many personal records broken.

The course runs from Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square by the Hoan Kiem Lake, past attractions like Hanoi Opera, St. Joseph’s Cathedral, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, and West Lake.

Trinh Quoc Luong finished first in the full marathon. This was his very first VM event. Pham Thi Hong Le finished first in the women’s full marathon. This was her third time participating in VM and also her third time winning the full event.

VnExpress has organized two marathons in the south central beach town Quy Nhon and one in the central resort town Hue.

Hai Duong set to begin social distancing at midnight

February 15, 2021 by english.thesaigontimes.vn

Hai Duong set to begin social distancing at midnight

The Saigon Times

A checkpoint in Dong Lac Ward in Hai Duong’s Chi Linh City. The province will undergo social distancing from midnight on February 16 – PHOTO: TNO

HCMC – The entire northern province of Hai Duong will undergo social distancing for 15 days, starting from midnight on February 16, to prevent Covid-19 from spreading further.

The decision was made at a meeting today of the executive board of the provincial Party Committee to discuss urgent measures to control Covid-19 as the disease has shown no letup in the province, the local media reported.

The executive board of the Hai Duong Party Committee asked the provincial government to issue a decision on social distancing.

The province’s Police Department was assigned to coordinate with other relevant agencies to set up checkpoints and impose heavy sanctions on those violating regulations on Covid-19 prevention and control.

Local residents were called on to stay home except for going out to buy food and medicines and for emergency cases. They must also strictly maintain a minimum distance of two meters while communicating and no more than two people can gather outdoors.

Acceleration opportunity opened for Vietnamese AI start-ups

February 8, 2021 by dtinews.vn

The AI Accelerator Challenge 2021 (AAC 2021), organised by the VSV Foundation under the auspices of the Ministry of Science and Technology and funded by the Australian Embassy, has just officially opened for registration.

This is an acceleration program specifically designed for Vietnamese artificial intelligence (AI) start-ups with innovative ideas and products that address the practical needs of the market.

The AI Accelerator Challenge 2021, themed “AI in pandemic – Adapting to the new normal”, has been organised with the goal of identifying, incubating, promoting and developing potential AI-powered applications in numerous fields such as finance, commerce, electronics, telecommunications, manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, education, transportation and smart city.

Participants will have the opportunity to undertake a four-week online training course, after which the top five teams will be awarded prizes including a service support package worth VND 500 million, a business promotion and mentoring course worth VND 200 million and up to VND 200 million in seed investment with no equity required.

Running from February to August 2021, the program is open for registration until midnight on 25 March 2021. Interested candidates can find more detailed information and apply at https://ai.vsvfoundation.com/

The program will assist Vietnam’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as helping to foster the development of a vibrant AI start-up environment.

“Vietnam should be very proud of its successes in tackling COVID-19”, said H.E Mr Andrew Barnes, Australian Chargé d’ Affaires to Vietnam. “Through sponsoring programs to promote innovative applications using artificial intelligence, Australia is demonstrating its strong commitment to assisting Vietnam overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting economic recovery and strengthening its innovation system.”

“The Government is trying to implement many activities to cope with disruptions caused by COVID-19, in which innovation and application of advanced science and technology have been defined as the key to increase the resilience businesses and recovery of the economy. Artificial intelligence is one of the core technologies that promise to revolutionise many of Vietnam’s key socio-economic sectors such as health, education, business, commerce, finance and agriculture.” Vice Minister Bui The Duy from the Ministry of Science and Technology added.

“We are proud to be a part of this program,” Ms Thach Le Anh, Founder of VSV Foundation said. “The AAC 2021 will not only allow Vietnamese AI start-ups to receive mentoring from top AI technology experts, but also support them with business development and fund raising, including by raising capital from angel investors and leading domestic and foreign venture capital funds. The start-ups will be able to raise up to VND 2 billion after the program ends.”

Central coast fish markets abuzz with trade for Tet

February 8, 2021 by e.vnexpress.net

Days before Tet (Lunar New Year holiday), which peaks on Feb. 12, fishing vessels of various sizes return from Ha Tinh Province’s fishing waters to Cua Sot Port in Loc Ha District, each carrying a full load of fresh seafood.

The market, at its most bustling near Tet, commences trade at 4 a.m. and usually ends by 7 a.m.

Red snapper, anchovies, Indian mackerel, shrimp or mantis shrimp are popular commodities here.

Nguyen Van Sang, 57, from Loc Ha District, Ha Tinh Province displays his purchase of fresh Indian mackerel with a broad smile.Tet. I managed to buy more than 100 kilograms of mackerel to sell to wholesalers. Each kilogram brings me VND5,000 ($0.22) of profit,” Sang said.

At around the same time in Son Tra District of Da Nang City, the market at fish port Tho Quang is no less busy. The day market starts at 12 p.m. and stops at 5 p.m.

Major purchasers of fish are seafood processing companies. Thanks to the favorable weather this year, fishermen get to enjoy the bounty of the sea, especially tuna.

Big fish are crammed into ice boxes to be distributed in the vicinity.

Hectic Tho Quang market peaks between midnight and 6 a.m.

A fresh fish should have an overall shiny appearance with clear eyes.

Live fish are put in tanks or basins with air pumps, ready to be shipped to restaurants.

Deals are quickly settled while fish are fresh. Many locals frequent the market to buy ingredients for their Tet spread.

Four new COVID-19 cases in Hanoi, three in Quang Ninh

August 2, 2021 by vietnamnet.vn

The Hanoi Centre for Disease Control this morning announced four new COVID-19 cases, including one woman who came into contact with a confirmed case nearly two weeks ago but withheld the information from contact tracers.

The Garden Hill apartment building, No.99 Tran Binh Street, Nam Tu Liem District, in lockdown after three cases of COVID-19 were recorded on Monday. — Photo vov.vn

The 28-year-old woman, whose name was given as N.T.K.A, residing at the Garden Hill apartment building, No.99 Tran Binh Street, Nam Tu Liem District, reportedly came into contact with Patient No. 1,722 (connected to the outbreak at a military-run factory in Hanoi, confirmed positive on January 30) on January 26 at the gate of the building.

On the afternoon of February 6, she called Hanoi CDC for advice as she developed symptoms including fever, coughing and sore throat. She then got tested for COVID-19 and the results returned positive late on Sunday.

From January 26 to February 6, she failed to contact health authorities despite widespread public announcements seeking close contacts of the confirmed patient, Chairman of Nam Tu Liem District People’s Committee Nguyen Huy Cuong said, adding that she feared having to spend the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday in quarantine.

The 12-day period she remained in the community posed risks of local spread and health authorities are investigating her travel history and contacts. Eight direct close contacts have been identified so far.

Her 10-month-old daughter N.B.B and her 40-year-old female helper H.T.N – who both live in the same apartment – have also tested positive for the virus.

All three have been taken to centralised quarantine at the National Hospital for Tropical Disease and are being treated here.

Four people at a hairdresser shop on the first floor of the building where she visited have been identified, but two other close contacts might have left Hà Nội, a Nam Tu Liem health official said.

The apartment building with 1,200 residents has been locked down and disinfected. Testing for all residents is ongoing.

The other case is a man named T.C.D., a health official from the National Institute of Malariology, Parasitology and Entomology, residing in Vĩnh Phúc Ward, Ba Đình District.

He went to the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai, which has recorded 19 infections since January 27, on a business trip during January 28-29 and returned to Hanoi on Vietnam Airlines flight VN1612 on January 29, departing from Pleiku City.

On January 30, he checked himself into National Hospital for Tropical Diseases to be quarantined.

His first two COVID-19 tests on January 30 and February 4 returned negative, but on February 6, he developed a mild fever and the test then returned positive for coronavirus.

To date, five people from the National Institute of Malariology, Parasitology and Entomology on the same business trip to Gia Lai have tested positive for the virus.

Gia Lai is conducting COVID-19 tests on all the staff at the Pleiku airport.

Hanoi CDC said the case of D. has no risks of spreading to the community.

The lastest four cases, which have not yet been officially logged in the health ministry’s records, put the total community cases of coronavirus infections in the capital city at 27 since January 27.

Quang Ninh records three additional COVID-19 cases

All of the patients are F1 cases who came in close contact with infected individuals in the provinces of Hai Duong and Quang Ninh.

As of the morning of February 8, Quang Ninh has successfully traced over 100,000 F1, F2, F3, and F4 cases, whilst taking samples from 45,000 people. Of these, 50 positive cases have been detected, mainly around the town of Duong Trieu.

As a means of controlling the spread of the epidemic, Quang Ninh province’s People’s Committee has asked relevant agencies to suspend all public transportation, including road and inland waterways, with exceptions for special cases. In line with these measures, people who want to leave the province must be given permission from competent authorities, fill in medical declarations, and test negative for SARS-CoV-2.

Those who wish to return to Quang Ninh province must be examined by local medical staff for health status upon entry.

Elsewhere, roughly 1,900 residents living in the alleys of Nguyen Trai and Nguyen Cu Trinh in District 1 of Ho Chi Ming City were swiftly placed into lockdown at midnight on February 7. This follows one local resident testing positive for COVID-19.

Following this, three F1 cases were detected, all of whom are relatives of an infected person. Despite this, local authorities believe that due to the narrow conditions in the area both alleys must be put into lockdown to reduce the risk of infection. In addition, the entire area has been sprayed with disinfectant.

Elsewhere, five staff members of Tan Son Nhat Airport in the southern city were confirmed to have contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus after mass testing was carried out. The five new cases are in the same group as an infected patient and they are all currently being isolated and are undergoing treatment at Cu Chi Field Hospital.

At present, F1 and F2 cases are still being traced by the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control.

Quang Ninh records three additional COVID-19 cases

A further three new novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases were detected in the northern province of Quang Ninh on the morning of February 8, according to the provincial Department of Health.

All of the patients are F1 cases who came in close contact with infected individuals in the provinces of Hai Duong and Quang Ninh.

Those who wish to return to Quang Ninh province must be examined by local medical staff for health status upon entry.

At present, F1 and F2 cases are still being traced by the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control.

VNS/VOV

Hanoi gives harsh sanction to violation of Covid-19 prevention rules

Hanoi has listed 15 acts of violation and corresponding punishments ranging from administrative fine to criminal prosecution.

Hanoi to hold lunar New Year fireworks at one location

February 11, 2021 by dtinews.vn

Hanoi will organise fireworks to welcome in the Lunar New Year at just one location instead of 30 as scheduled earlier due to Covid-19 outbreak in many localities.

The 15-minute high-altitude firework displays will begin at midnight, February 11. The event will be broadcast live on Vietnam Television.

People will not be able to directly enjoy the firework display.

Tight epidemic preventive measures have been applied to avoid mass gatherings. The Capital Military Command and concerned agencies have been asked to ensure safety and security for the location and adjacent areas.

Hanoi’s authorities previously decided to hold firework displays on Lunar New Year’s Eve at 30 localities across the city.

Many cities and localities in Vietnam, including HCM City, have cancelled their firework displays on Lunar New Year’s Eve for Covid-19 prevention efforts.