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Healthcare centers in each district have been requested to set up a CTTV camera system at centralized quarantine facilities and make sure all footage could be extracted to help monitor suspected Covid-19 carriers currently in isolation.

All records of a quarantined person, as well as of the inspection and supervision process, must be kept at the quarantine camp, the department said.

To cope with infection spread, HCMC has been operating 52 centralized quarantine facilities that offer a total 4,500 beds across different districts aside from a dormitory of 10,000 beds at the Vietnam National University in Thu Duc City.

The city now has five medical facilities for Covid-19 treatment that can provide 1,955 beds in total.

As per containment protocol, Vietnam requests all people returning from abroad, those that have visited affected areas and those that have come into close contact with previously infected patients to remain in centralized quarantine camp for 14 days.

Since Jan. 28, when community transmission returned to Vietnam after almost two months, the city has reported 36 cases in eight districts. Of these, 35 were linked to the outbreak at its Tan Son Nhat airport, whose origin has yet to be identified, and the other to Hai Duong, the country’s epicenter.

The latest wave, which began in northern Hai Duong and Quang Ninh provinces, has spread to 13 cities and provinces, with infections rising to 820.

HCMC has detected no new cases in the last two weeks.

The team has developed a solution applying artificial intelligence to the accurate diagnosis of Covid-19 infections and provides intervention options.

Infection patterns vary by country and territory. As a result, interventions may work in one country or territory but be less effective in another.

A total 48 teams from 17 countries were selected for the final round out of a total 104 teams from 28 countries in the semi-finals. The results will be announced at the end of February 2021.

The jury selected the VinBrain team for the final round based on the accuracy of its AI models and ability to easily interpret predictions of the solution. This approach can be used for any future pandemic response model.

Members of VinBrain in the U.S. have come up with an extensive solution to this problem by developing region-specific AI models to predict the Covid-19 infection time series in those regions. The solution was based on the classical epidemic SEIR model, which was then expanded to integrate artificial intelligence.

Amir Banifatemi, GM for Innovation and Growth at VinBrain in U.S. Photo courtesy of VinBrain .

In order to train its AI models, the team used available data like demographics, medical infrastructure, and economic indicators. A special feature used by the VinBrain team is Google Maps mobile metrics collected from worldwide Android phones in an anonymous and secure way, measuring the movements of people in public areas like parks, hospitals, workplaces, grocery stores, stations, airports.

Another unique feature used by the VinBrain team is Google’s Covid-19 infection trend data aggregated anonymously and that contains popular Covid-19 symptom-related Google searches.

The Pandemic Response Challenge co-organized by XPRIZE and Cognizant was launched in November 2020. With prize money of $500,000, the contest aims to harness the power of data and artificial intelligence to predict Covid-19 infection rates, and propose intervention plans for governments, communities and regional institutions to control the pandemic when reopening the economy.

VinBrain is an AI-focused company funded by VinGroup and its mission is to infuse AI and IoT to medicine. VinBrain aims to provide access to the best healthcare solutions, knowledge, and services. VinBrain is made up of a team of talented AI professionals with world-class experience.

Their expertise lie in the fields of computer vision, machine learning, language processing and large scale products and services. VinBrain’s AI experts work in teams despite living in many different countries and territories including Vietnam, Australia, South Korea and the United States.

A newborn at HCM City’s Hung Vuong Hospital. The city’s fertility rate is lowest in Vietnam.

A total 21 provinces and cities have low to very low fertility rates, mostly in the Mekong Delta, southeast and central coastal regions. With a total population of 38 million, these provinces’ prolonged declining fertility rates pose dire threats to the country’s future in terms of security, workforce and economy, the report said.

Meanwhile, 33 others have high fertility rates, with the central province of Ha Tinh topping the list at 2.9 births per woman of childbearing age.

The MoH has recently decided to attempt to adjust fertility rates among localities to maintain the desired fertility at replacement level of two to 2.2 children per woman of reproductive age.

The ministry said it would allocate State funds to provide contraceptive methods to localities with low birth rates which are usually poor and currently account for 42 per cent of the country’s population.

There will also be incentives to encourage families in areas with low fertility rates to have more children.

The plan touches on piloting online sex education and consulting for youth as well as programmes to prevent infertility and reproductive cancers for adolescents.

According to the MoH, Vietnam has a high rate of infertility of which 7.7 per cent is primary infertility.

The 2019 Population and Housing Census also revealed contradictions between women’s financial statuses and their willingness to bear a child.

Those in the richest group had the lowest fertility rate and vice versa. Sex imbalance at birth has witnessed an upward trend in recent years, the census highlighted.

Vietnam’s total fertility rate (TFR) dropped from 2.25 children per woman in 2001 to 1.99 in 2011. From 2012 to 2019, the rate ranged from 2.04 to 2.1.

According to the 2019 census, the TFR of urban areas was 1.83 children per woman, lower than rural areas’ average rate of 2.26. The trend has remained the same for two decades.

The imbalance in access to information and health care services contributes to the status quo, the census suggests, as couples living in cities are aware of the benefits of family planning and can easily access contraception.

Earlier in April, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc approved a birth rate adjustment programme which encourages people to get married before the age of 30 and women to give birth to their second child before they are 35.

The programme plans to offer incentives for couples with two children including reducing tax, tuition fees, rental expenses and social housing prices.

Local authorities have been asked to pilot marriage and family consultation services such as dating clubs and pre-marriage health consultations.  VNS

A Japanese expert who died in a hotel in Hanoi in mid-February was identified as being infected with a new coronavirus variant, the fifth of its kind in Vietnam, Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long confirmed on Wednesday.

According to genetic sequencing results, the new variant is referred to as 20C — a form of the virus which has been circulating primarily in South Korea, Sri Lanka, India, and Taiwan — and is not a highly contagious strain.

Japan, however, has yet to document any case of the 20C variant.

It is the first time the variant has been detected in Vietnam and is the fifth coronavirus mutation to have been found in the Southeast Asian country.

The other four variants include B.1.1.7 from the UK and B.1.351 first detected in South Africa, both belonging to the ‘B lineage,’ the ‘A lineage’ (referred to as A.23.1) originally emerging in Rwanda in October 2020, and D614G popularly known to scientists as ‘G.’

As more variants are detected, Minister Long forewarned that “the pathogen may still exist in the community, so it is necessary to raise vigilance for pandemic prevention.”

Regarding the deceased Japanese citizen , posthumous test results after he had been found dead at a hotel in Tay Ho District, Hanoi on February 13 showed that he was positive for the novel coronavirus.

The man, who was an expert working for the Hanoi branch of Mitsui & Co. Vietnam Ltd., completed quarantine in Ho Chi Minh City between January 17 and 31 before flying to Hanoi where he stayed at the hotel from February 1.

Vietnam had recorded 2,412 coronavirus cases, including 1,513 local infections, as of Thursday morning, with 1,804 recoveries and 35 virus-related fatalities, according to the Ministry of Health’s data.

In the latest wave, 636 cases were recorded in Hai Duong, 61 in Quang Ninh Province, 27 in Gia Lai Province, 35 in Hanoi, five in Bac Ninh Province, two in Bac Giang Province, 36 in Ho Chi Minh City, two in Hoa Binh Province, one in Ha Giang Province, three in Dien Bien Province, six in Binh Duong Province, four in Hai Phong, and two in Hung Yen Province.

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On an early weekend morning in late January, Bui Nguyen Van Nguyen sat down for a cup of coffee at Ba Lu, one of Saigon’s oldest cafés, located smack in the middle of Phung Hung Market in District 5.

After taking a sip of coffee brewed in the traditional net-filter method, Nguyen began snapping photographs of the market, cataloguing the simple beauty of everyday life in Saigon.

Such moments are typical for Nguyen who, for the past three years, has spent his time wandering around Saigon, capturing life through the perspective of his lens.

Saigon ‘enthusiast’

Nguyen’s love of Saigon is shown to the 106,000 followers of his Instagram account @odaucungchup , which translates to ‘taking photos everywhere.’

“It makes me happy that every day I get to wake up and realize I am in the heart of Saigon,” Nguyen told Tuoi Tre News .

Saigon at sunset. Photo: @odaucungchup

Nguyen’s goal is to showcase simple, familiar images of Saigon, from its narrow alleyways to its street corners covered in tangled electric wires, and everything in between.

Building his Instagram handle a place for Saigon lovers, he wrote upon his bio, “Do you guys love Saigon like me?”

Besides randomly taking photos of city life in a wide range of topics, Nguyen has also run several long-term series, including Saigon Old Texts, Saigon Houses, Saigon Alleys, Saigon Cinemas, Saigon People, Patterns of Saigon, and more.

A photo from Bui Nguyen Van Nguyen’s Saigon Old Texts photo series

“I’m always attracted to shops with nice old-school signs when I need to buy or repair things because I truly believe that the people in those places put love and kindness into their work,” Nguyen captioned a series depicting store signage.

The 29-year-old photographer also uploads the story behind each photo, describing his feelings about it or what he has learned of the area where the picture was taken.

“Each time I stop at my regular banh mi [ Vietnamese baguette] stall on the way to work, I’m welcomed by Ms. Bay, the owner,” Nguyen told his Instagram followers.

“She always asks me if I want to stick to my favorite choices of fillings.

“It shows me she truly cares.”

According to Nguyen, he has never had a specific plan to post a picture or a story on a certain day.

“When I’m in the mood for telling a certain story, I look for the photos in my collections, do a little retouch before recalling what happened that day,” he described the routine to run his account.

The man has the peculiar habit of ending his sentences with commas, rather than periods.

“I want to give my sentences an open ending so that readers can continue to tell stories in their own way and from their own perspectives,” Nguyen explained.

“I think it makes people more comfortable if they are free to express their thoughts after the commas.”

A photo from Bui Nguyen Van Nguyen’s Saigon Alleys photo series

The boy from Dak Lak

Given his devotion to the southern metropolis, most of Nguyen’s fans are surprised when they find out he is not a Saigon native, but rather a transplant from the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak.

Nguyen first came to Saigon 10 years ago in order to pursue higher education and has since made the city his home.

“My journey of maturing is in Saigon, with all the best moments in my life having been witnessed by the city,” he explained.

“When I was living with my family in my hometown, I was just a high school boy who didn’t know a thing about life.

“It wasn’t until I began living independently in Saigon that I started to learn what life is all about and how to live kindly.”

Bui Nguyen Van Nguyen in a photo he provided Tuoi Tre News

His love for the bustling city has grown ever since.

“Saigon brought many beautiful people and experiences to my life,” he said.

“When I’m away from the city, I always suffer from missing the city and its things, like a loaf of banh mi .”

Saigon has also been a city of firsts for Nguyen.

“The city brought me many first times, like the first time I had my motorbike stolen or the first time I quit a job,” he shared.

“Sometimes, when I feel really down, I stop working for a while and wander, then stop and listen to all the street sounds.

“It helps me ‘recharge my batteries,’ which gives me energy to keep moving forward.”

To Nguyen, Saigon is a huge ‘warehouse’ with endless material and inspiration.

“Saigon is like a rain,” he remarked.

“It slowly drenches you until you realize how much you love it.”

A photo Bui Nguyen Van Nguyen took in Saigon under the theme of Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year).

Currently, Nguyen’s only plan is to continue running the @odaucungchup Instagram account in order to share his perspective on the city with the world.

Nguyen also denied being called a photographer, saying the title is “too great” for him.

“I would like to be called a Saigon storyteller with photos,” he said.

A photo from above by Bui Nguyen Van Nguyen shows vegetables being sold a wet market in Saigon.

A photo shows local people making banh ba trang , a typical dish of Chinese-Vietnamese people in Vietnam for Doan Ngo Festival, which is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month in the lunar calendar. Photo : @odaucungchup

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