Tuskers saved from death convalesce in central highlands sanctuary vnexpress international

Vietnam confirms nine new Covid-19 cases

February 24, 2021 by e.vnexpress.net

Eight of the patients numbered 2404-2412 were already in quarantine and the ninth was detected during a province-wide testing campaign.

With two cases confirmed in the morning, Hai Duong has recorded 11 cases Wednesday.

The province leads in the number of community cases recorded since January 28 at 636, followed by Quang Ninh (61), Ho Chi Minh City (36) and Hanoi (35).

The national Covid-19 tally stands at 2,412, with 1,790 recoveries and 35 deaths. Thirty recoveries were announced Wednesday.

Most of the active patients are in stable health, with 191 having tested negative for the novel coronavirus at least once.

Ten containers with 117,600 Covid-19 vaccine doses produced by the AstraZeneca companyarrived at HCMC’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport Wednesday morning.

Covid-19 has claimed nearly 2.5 million lives globally.

Social distancing order removed in Gia Lai’s four localities

February 24, 2021 by en.vietnamplus.vn

Military forces spray disinfectant at the Gia Lai General Hospital (Photo: VNA)

Gia Lai (VNA) – The Central Highlands province of Gia Lai will remove social distancing order at the stroke of February 25 in four localities reporting no new COVID-19 cases in the last 14 days, according to its announcement issued on on February 24.

They include Ayun Pa township and the districts of Ia Pa, Phu Thien and Krong Pa.

Students of the province are set to return to school on March 1 while socio-economic activities will resume in the new circumstance.

Gia Lai had logged no COVID-19 infections as of 5 pm on February 24, marking two weeks without new cases.

The province had tested 50,127 people, of which 27 were positive for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19, while 783 are waiting for results.

Seven patients were given the all-clear. Most of those under treatment are in stable conditions, as three of them have tested negative thrice, 7 twice and 4 once.

Gia Lai has to date completed contact tracing in searching for F1 and F2 cases. Local people are asked to strictly follow the Ministry of Health’s 5K message: khau trang (facemask), khu khuan (disinfection), khoang cach (distance), khong tu tap (no gathering) and khai bao y te (health declaration)./.

VNA

AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine batch lands in HCMC

February 24, 2021 by e.vnexpress.net

At around 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, the flight carrying Covid-19 vaccine doses arrived at HCMC’s Tan Son Nhat Airport. They’re the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines produced by British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca in collaboration with Oxford University and imported by Vietnam Vaccine JSC (VNVC).

After landing, the plane carrying the vaccine is guided to its berth.

Employees at Tan Son Nhat Airport prepare to receive the vaccines while wearing protective suits.

The first vaccine batch leaves the plane.

A VNVC representative said the batch is part of an agreement last November with AstraZeneca.

Truong Quoc Cuong, Deputy Health Minister, at Tan Son Nhat Airport on Wednesday said Vietnam and Thailand are the first two ASEAN countries to receive Covid-19 vaccines produced by AstraZeneca.

Vaccine containers are loaded onto special vehicles at the airport. They would be transported to VNVC cold storage units kept at between two to eight degrees Celsius.

Containers are disinfected to prevent possible contamination and infection.

An airport worker inspects the containers before transportation.

Around 30 million Covid-19 vaccine doses would be provided to Vietnam within the first half of this year according to the health ministry.

Through Covax, a global mechanism for developing, manufacturing and procuring Covid-19 vaccines and supply for member countries, Vietnam would receive an additional 4.9 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine within the first half of this year as well as 33 million more in the third quarter.

A container is transported to cold storage.

VNVC is the first Vietnamese firm to possess Covid-19 vaccines and the only firm chosen by AstraZeneca to distribute the vaccine in large numbers across Vietnam. In January, VNVC was approved by the Health Ministry to import, export and store vaccines and other biological products at low temperature. Currently, three ultra-cold storage units (kept at minus 86 degrees Celsius) are operated by VNVC in Hanoi, HCMC and Da Nang, capable of storing three million Covid-19 vaccine doses at once.

By 2:10 p.m., 10 vaccine containers had successfully entered cold storage in Phu Nhuan District.

The AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, named ChAdOx, has an efficacy rate of between 62-90 percent. While lower than other Covid-19 vaccines produced by Moderna and Pfizer, the AstraZeneca vaccine is cheaper and easier to transport and store.

Vietnam has recorded 2,403 Covid-19 cases so far, with 604 still active.

Vietnamese hospital temporarily locked down as man dies from lung problems

February 24, 2021 by tuoitrenews.vn

A general hospital in the north-central Vietnamese province of Thanh Hoa has been temporarily locked down after a man with serious lung problems died at the facility, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

The Bim Son General Hospital, located in the namesake town in Thanh Hoa, was put under temporary lockdown starting 5:30 pm on Tuesday.

The decision came after L.Q.M., 37, who hailed from the south-central province of Ninh Thuan, passed away at the infirmary earlier the same day, said Trinh Xuan Hiep, director of the health office in Bim Son Town.

A epidemiological investigation showed that M. had been to a virus-hit area in Binh Hung Hoa B Ward, Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City before traveling to his wife’s hometown in Ha Trung District, Thanh Hoa on February 5.

M. began having symptoms such as coughing and difficulty breathing and headed to a commune-level medical center for treatment.

The man was admitted to Bim Son General Hospital on February 21 as his condition worsened. His lung scan showed signs of bronchitis.

Prior to his hospital admission, M. had a history of type 2 diabetes and complications from liver and kidney failure.

He was treated and quarantined at the infirmary, as well as had his samples collected for COVID-19 testing.

The result came back negative for the novel coronavirus on February 22.

On February 23, M. had high fever and underwent a lung X-ray, whose result showed signs of pneumonia.

His condition quickly deteriorated as he repeatedly suffered apnea and a cardiac arrest.

M. passed away at 3:00 pm the same day.

His samples have been collected for a second COVID-19 test and the result will be announced by the Thanh Hoa Center for Disease Control later.

Multiple areas inside Bim Son General Hospital have been disinfected.

Local authorities are tracking all people who had contact with the man over the past days.

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Lockdowns in all 33 areas in HCMC lifted

February 24, 2021 by english.thesaigontimes.vn

Lockdowns in all 33 areas in HCMC lifted

The Saigon Times

A security guard handles tape used to lock down on the 15th floor of the Carillon Apartment Building’s Block F in Tan Binh District, HCMC. The lockdowns in all 33 areas in the city have been lifted – PHOTO: PLO

HCMC – The lockdown on the 15th floor of the Carillon Apartment Building’s Block F on Hoang Hoa Tham Street, Tan Binh District, the last location that was on lockdown in HCMC, was lifted on February 23. Thus, the lockdowns in all 33 areas in the city have been lifted.

Nguyen Khac Nguyen, chairman of Ward 13, Tan Binh District, where the apartment building is located, said the move was made after all residents on the 15th floor had tested negative for Covid-19, the local media reported.

Block F was blocked from February 9 as a Covid-19 patient, who is an employee of Vietnam Airlines, lives there. Three people living in the same apartment with the patient were placed under quarantine at the Cu Chi Field Hospital, 26 others who had indirect contact with the patient were quarantined at home and all residents of the apartment building had their samples taken for Covid-19 testing.

The city has passed 13 consecutive days without new local infections and has basically controlled the infection cluster at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

However, the situation in other parts of the country remains complicated. The risk of community transmission is still high in the city as there are big numbers of people traveling from other localities to the city after the Lunar New Year holiday, according to the municipal Center for Disease Control.

From February 16, the city asked those coming to the city to make health declarations and randomly tested those at the Mien Dong Coach Station, the Saigon Railway Station, the Tan Son Nhat International Airport and boarding houses. Those from coronavirus-hit areas in Haiphong, Hai Duong and Hung Yen have been quarantined and tested.

The city is treating 43 Covid-19 patients and quarantining nearly 1,400 people in centralized quarantine centers and 571 others at home. The municipal Department of Health has come up with three response plans to combat the pandemic. In the worst-case scenario, the city will have 500 patients and some 2,800 people who are suspected of being infected with the disease.

Dedicated efforts justify BIDV MetLife successes

February 22, 2021 by www.vir.com.vn

BIDV MetLife representatives received an AmCham CSR Recognition Award 2020

In the social distancing period of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, BIDV MetLife received a number of claims for insurance benefits under the circumstances of limited travel and difficulties in the verification process. However, with responsibility and the spirit of always putting clients’ interest first, BIDV MetLife overcame such limitations, quickly collected documents, made claim decisions, and paid for the clients’ families as soon as the paperwork had been completed.

One particular client had an accident and died in May, leaving behind their life partner and two school-aged children. BIDV MetLife had its staff quickly verify the information.

After collating the results, the company decided to pay accidental death benefit as in the contract terms with the aim to promptly help the family stablilise after the unexpected event, and ensure future education for the children.

Another client suddenly died while travelling abroad last year. The customer’s insurance contract did not specify the beneficiary – luckily, the client purchased life insurance from BIDV MetLife. After receiving the case, BIDV MetLife’s Benefit Department helped the client’s family complete the estate division agreement so that they could take advantage of the benefits as claimed in the contract.

Over the last six years, BIDV MetLife has paid almost VND36 billion ($1.56 million) in insurance benefits. In 2020 alone, BIDV MetLife successfully resolved 5,790 cases, paying around VND25.2 billion ($1.1 million).

Since its establishment in 2014, the top priority and mission that BIDV MetLife has pursued is to strive to bring the best for customers, and ensure customer service quality in any and all circumstances.

Not only focusing on taking care of and ensuring customer benefits, since entering the Vietnamese market BIDV MetLife has utilised corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes to contribute to the community’s sustainable development and ensure social security in places where the company operates.

General director of BIDV MetLife Gaurav Sharma shared, “The employees, clients, partners, and the community are our top priorities. We pursue the goal of “always with you, building a more confident future”, and turn this goal into a foundation to build a better and more humane future. Therefore, we always do our best to ensure that customers benefit as well as aiming at sustainable social activities, contributing to creating positive change for Vietnamese people.”

BIDV MetLife has coordinated with BIDV branches in various provinces to jointly implement initiatives for the community such as awarding scholarships, gifting bicycles to underprivileged students who had made great efforts to achieve excellent academic, presenting new facilities for schools, and much more.

As a joint venture between MetLife Co., Ltd. (belonging to MetLife, the US’ leading life insurance corporation with 150 years of operation) and leading Vietnamese lender BIDV, BIDV MetLife participates in various CSR activities in the country with the budget mainly stemming from MetLife Foundation.

Since 2017, the Foundation in collaboration with partners including Trick up, Plan International, Habitat for Humanity, CEP, Room to Read, and the Special Olympics have supported $5 million through 10 initiatives and projects related to comprehensive finance.

Responsible to the utmost, BIDV MetLife has been honoured with a Corporate Excellence Award by Enterprise Asia – the leading non-governmental organisation on the continent in entrepreneurship – for pursuing the mission of providing the best service to customers, even in tough times like the current pandemic.

In addition to that, BIDV MetLife won the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam CSR Recognition Award 2020 in Hanoi last December. This was the fourth consecutive time that BIDV MetLife was bestowed the honour.

By Hoang Dan