Society

Representatives of the Hà Nội Oncology Hospital and Roche Vietnam sign a Memorandum of Understanding on improving patient cancer care and treatment in Việt Nam on April 15. — Photo Roche Vietnam

Le Van Thao at the court (Photo: VNA)

Of the figure, the number of men makes up 51% of the total, while the number of people aged between 25 and 54 accounts for roughly 66% of the figure.

This information was unveiled by the General Statistics Office (GSO) during a press conference held on April 16 in Hanoi aimed at reviewing the local labour and employment situation during the first quarter of the year.

Out of a total of 9.1 million people adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, 540,000 people lost their jobs, whilst 2.8 million people endured temporary work stoppages.

Furthermore, 3.1 million people have seen their working hours cut down, been forced to leave work, or have been laid-off, while 6.5 million workers have had their incomes reduced.

Most notably, the third outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic which occurred over the Lunar New Year period significantly increased the number of underemployed workers in comparison to the previous quarter and the same period from last year.

Throughout the reviewed period, the average monthly income of employees reached VND6.3 million, representing an increase of VND339,000 compared to the previous quarter and a rise of VND106,000 compared to last year’s corresponding period.

The number of unemployed people of working age hit nearly 1.1 million, marking an increase of more than 12,000 people over the same period from last year.

To deal with the situation, the GSO has proposed that a number of solutions be implemented in order to remove difficulties for the labour market. This can be done through the acceptance of vaccine passports, thereby developing the necessary criteria to reopen the international tourism market in order to revive the local tourism industry.

It is anticipated that the development of these sectors will attract a large number of employees as a contribution to fully utilising the existing workforce.

The 62-year-old patient, who is a resident of Binh Han ward, was originally admitted to Hai Duong Hospital for Tropical Diseases for treatment on March 28.

After recording several negative tests for the SARS-CoV-2 virus on April 11, April 14, and April 16, she was announced to have made a full recovery from the virus, although she will now undergo a 21-day isolation period at home.

According to doctor Nguyen The Anh, deputy director of Hai Duong Hospital for Tropical Diseases, the patient suffers from illnesses such as type two diabetes, causing her to spend a total of 51 days at hospital receiving treatment.

The northern province of Hai Duong represents the country’s largest COVID-19 hotspot and has detected a total of 726 positive COVID-19 cases so far. At present, the locality has gone through three consecutive weeks without any fresh locally-transmitted COVID-19 cases.

As of April 16, there are no COVID-19 patients within the locality, whilst all F1 and F2 cases have also completed their isolation period. Since the beginning of the year as many as 746,104 samples have been taken as part of testing for the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The province is currently implementing its COVID-19 vaccination campaign and is using the AstraZeneca vaccine to do so. The Ministry of Health has therefore allocated 33,000 vaccine doses to the locality and is set to distribute an additional 10,700 doses over the coming month.

Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long issued a warning during the course of a virtual conference held on April 16 with representatives from 63 localities throughout the nation.

He noted that border areas located in the southwestern region can be considered potential hot spots, with the Ministry of Health’s working delegation keeping a close watch on relevant areas.

Minister Long also suggested that local authorities should move to tighten control of border gates, open crossings, and trails, while also ensuring that entrants go through a strict quarantine period. Without these measures, it can be viewed as likely that the epidemic will break out once more, he added.

Furthermore, the Health Minister urged all localities, especially provinces which share a border with Cambodia, to be vigilant and manage illegal entry and exit activities whilst deploying other measures to fight against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Health has also requested localities outline scenarios on large-scale testing, isolation, and treatment for immediate activation if an outbreak recurs.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), many countries worldwide have started to record an increase in the number of positive COVID-19 cases following measures being loosened. On average the world recognises between 600,000 and 700,000 new cases daily, in addition to between 1,000 and 2,000 deaths.

Vietnam has currently experienced 21 days without any new locally-transmitted cases, with the country continuing to detect more imported cases.

According to Dang Quang Tan, head of the Health Ministry’s Preventive Medicine Department, the entire nation must remain highly vigilant against the possible recurrence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Upon addressing the seminar, Tran Quang Hoai, general director of the General Department of Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, emphasised that climate change has made natural disasters increasingly extreme.

In addition, infrastructure facilities that have been built for the purpose of responding to natural calamities in several places have failed to meet relevant requirements.

As a means of reducing the damage caused by natural disasters, the central management board for irrigation projects has proposed using approximately US$275 million in order to implement the project. This will see the upgrade of anti-flooding facilities for dykes in the Hong (Red), Thai Binh, and Ma rivers, whilst reinforcing the embankments as a way of preventing landslides occurring at critical dyke sections.

Furthermore, domestic and international consulting units have proposed that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the ADB move to increase investment in enhancing the capacity building of management officials from central to local level when it comes to dealing with floods. This can be done whilst simultaneously providing residents with the skills necessary for them to respond to dangerous weather patterns.

Chu Phu My, director of the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, revealed that over the years the State has paid close attention to building a system for natural disaster prevention and control. Indeed, several dykes in Hanoi have failed to meet the needs for developing traffic and ensuring safety for local residents.

Due to this, the capital is keen to get involved in the project aimed at upgrading dykes in the Red and Duong rivers and building crucial anti-flooding facilities combined with transport development.