Vietnam life hanoi mandates 14 day self isolation for returnees from covid 19 epicenter

Australia, UNICEF join hands to aid COVID-19 vaccine delivery in Vietnam

April 19, 2021 by en.vietnamplus.vn

Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Robyn Mudie speaks at the event (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – The Australian Embassy in Hanoi and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have announced a 13.5 million AUD package to support the introduction and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines doses in Vietnam.

The Australia-UNICEF partnership is expected to provide a unique and holistic package that will assist Vietnam across a range of areas vital to the successful delivery of a mass immunisation programme against COVID-19 , according to a UNICEF press release published on April 19.

“Our support will help Vietnam purchase cold chain equipment to store and transport vaccine doses to where they are needed around the country, provide training courses and materials to ensure Vietnam’s health workers and officials are ready, and assist with the development of immunisation plans in Vietnam’s remote provinces to ensure equitable and uniform vaccine coverage”, said Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Robyn Mudie.

“Introducing a new vaccine especially for COVID-19 is a colossal task for any government with many important steps involved. Thanks to the partnership with the Government of Australia, UNICEF is committed to work with the Ministry of Health and other partners to support the introduction and rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in Vietnam,” said Rana Flowers, UNICEF Representative in Vietnam.

The programme will support Vietnam to reach the prioritised 20 percent of population by the end of 2022 and set the foundation necessary for immunising the remainder of the population as vaccines are rolled out nationwide.

Funding for the programme is drawn from Australia’s 523.2 million AUD Regional Vaccine Access and Health Security Initiative, as well as from the nation’s bilateral development cooperation programme with Vietnam.

In total, Australia has committed 40 million AUD over three years to support Vietnam’s vaccine procurement and delivery efforts./.

VNA

COVID-19: Five imported cases detected in Khanh Hoa, Da Nang

April 21, 2021 by vov.vn

Two patients returned to Khanh Hoa from Russia and three others came back to Da Nang from Japan on different flights on April 18 and April 7, respectively, the MoH said in its 18.00hrs update.

All the returnees were placed in quarantine upon their arrival and they all tested positive during their stay in concentrated quarantine facilities.

Vietnam has brought under control the recent coronavirus outbreak after the virus recurred in Hai Duong province three months ago. No new locally transmitted cases have been detected during the past few weeks.

However, relevant agencies have constantly confirmed infections returning from epidemic hit countries like the US, Russia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines and India.

Vietnam has so far recorded 2,806 coronavirus cases, including 2,490 recoveries.

The number of deaths caused vby COVID-19 and related illnesses remains at 35.

Covid-19 highlights the need for safe, nutritious, and affordable food

June 1, 2020 by vietnamnet.vn

Hunger and malnutrition were an increasing problem worldwide before the pandemic. Restrictions imposed to curb disease spread have disrupted local and international food supply chains, making the problem even more urgent.

Covid-19 highlights the need for safe, nutritious, and affordable food

Many of the world’s food producers are struggling to get their products to market during the pandemic. Photo: ADB

Global hunger and malnutrition have been rising for the past five years. Lockdowns imposed to combat the coronavirus pandemic have disrupted the local and international food trade, as well as production and distribution. Tens of millions of urban and other migrant workers have lost their jobs, many perhaps permanently—pushing them into a hunger trap.

Efforts to end hunger and malnutrition (Sustainable Development Goal 2) now seem in jeopardy. Even after full lockdowns are relaxed, continued disruption in food production and distribution will likely increase consumer prices. With lost livelihoods for tens of millions of households, increased food insecurity and malnutrition will become a grim reality without focused measures to support food production and marketing.

Food insecurity and malnutrition should have been headline news before Covid-19 pandemic. Despite impressive economic growth in Asia and the Pacific region over the last four decades, endemic food insecurity and malnutrition have persisted. The number of people living in extreme poverty (under $1.90 a day) declined from 53% in 1990 to about 9% in 2013. Still, 326 million people lived below the poverty line. Poverty is inextricably linked to food insecurity, and accordingly the number of food-insecure people in the region has remained high.

Feeding these hungry and malnourished millions is a daunting challenge. Malnutrition affects people of all ages—ranging from severe undernutrition to obesity—but children bear the heaviest burden. Over 86 million, or 25% of children younger than five suffer from stunting, and 34 million children are wasting. A further 12 million suffer from acute malnutrition with high risk of death. The income penalty of stunting amounts to 7%-10% of GDP in the region. But governments allocate only 1% of public expenditure for nutrition programs.

The widespread loss of employment and income triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic will make the situation much worse.

Take the example of unsafe food. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, the impact of unsafe food on human health was staggering. In 2018, the World Health Organization estimated that globally over 600 million fall ill after eating contaminated food and 420,000 die every year. Children under five years of age carry 40% of the foodborne disease burden with 125,000 deaths every year. If loss in employment and disruptions in food production and distribution continue and safe food becomes even harder to find for poor communities, this toll of sickness and death could escalate in the Covid-19 era.

There’s no easy fix for these pressing challenges. But there is a single step, albeit a large one, that will have immediate beneficial impacts on the region’s food security.

Governments need to devote at least as much attention to the rural sector as they do to their urban communities. Rural development and the farm sector have been largely neglected in some parts of the region. The resulting underinvestment has taken a significant toll on the agriculture sector, and on the food security and health status of societies.

Smallholder farmers provide 80% of the region’s food. When they don’t make a profit, they can’t invest in modern technology and higher quality inputs. As a result, farm productivity across the region is low, cost of production is high and consumers pay higher prices.

Poor quality and contaminated food has corrosive effects on public health. Malnourished people have weak immune systems, making them more vulnerable to diseases like Covid-19. This vicious cycle can only be broken by focused government attention at senior policymaking levels.

What can governments do to help farmers produce safe, nutritious, and affordable food in the region?

The first priority is to provide smallholders with access to quality seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides. Often, these are not available on time and are adulterated. Governments either do not have adequate quality and safety regulations or do not enforce them. Three actions will bring significant improvements: expand smallholders’, especially women’s, access to input financing; improve marketing of key inputs by easing constraints on imports and distribution; and enhance compliance with quality standards, especially for seeds and chemicals.

Second, the region desperately needs functional markets for perishables and nutritious food such as fruits and vegetables, meat, fish, eggs, and dairy. Post-harvest losses amount to 30%-40% of production due to a lack of cold-chain facilities and proper market infrastructure.

In the short-term, governments should improve hygiene and compliance with food quality standards at existing wholesale markets. In the medium-term, there’s a need for investments in modern wholesale and retail market infrastructure through public-private partnerships. An Asian Development Bank study estimates that in order to achieve SDG 2 in Asia and the Pacific, annual investments in agricultural research and development, market infrastructure, irrigation, and water use efficiency must increase from the current US$42 billion to as much as US$79 billion. Given the unfolding toll of Covid-19 on the food sector, this investment requirement will be even higher.

The third way governments can head off pandemic-induced food shortages is to improve their own capacities. Ministries dealing with agriculture in most governments are sometimes the weakest link in the system. Their capacity to make evidence-based policies require significant improvement immediately.

Due to Covid-19, unemployed urban migrant workers are heading home to rural areas. It’s safer there, as social distancing is easier in households with larger living spaces than in cramped urban communities. Improved rural development and profitable farming will also generate plentiful non-farm jobs. Increased income in rural areas will also generate higher demand for city jobs. The pandemic is a threat, but also an opportunity to reap dividends as workers return to farms—but only if governments invest more in agriculture and take helpful and decisive policy actions.

Decent on and off-farm rural incomes and jobs will deliver safe, nutritious, and affordable food that societies—especially poor communities—and economies need to survive and thrive in the Covid-19 era. Hanoitimes

Akmal Siddiq (Chief, Rural Development and Food Security Thematic Group, ADB)

Five new imported Covid-19 cases raise Vietnam’s tally to 2,806

April 21, 2021 by english.thesaigontimes.vn

Five new imported Covid-19 cases raise Vietnam’s tally to 2,806

The Saigon Times

A returnee makes a health declaration. The Ministry of Health has confirmed five fresh imported Covid-19 cases – PHOTO: VNA

HCMC – The Ministry of Health has confirmed five fresh Covid-19 patients who were quarantined in Khanh Hoa and Danang after their arrival, taking the country’s tally to 2,806 as of tonight, April 21.

The latest cases in Khanh Hoa Province are two women. The residents of Thanh Hoa Province and Haiphong City flew back to Vietnam from Russia through Cam Ranh International Airport on April 18. They tested positive for Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, on April 20 and are being treated at the Khanh Hoa Hospital for Tropical Diseases.

Three other Covid-19 patients in Danang City reside in Quang Ninh, HCMC and Yen Bai. The three men arrived in Danang International Airport from Japan on April 7. Their positive test results came out on April 20.

Up to now, as many as 2,490 patients have made a full recovery from the disease, while 40 active patients have tested negative for the virus one to three times.

Vietnam wants sustainable relationship with China

April 21, 2021 by hanoitimes.vn

Vietnam and China are neighbors working together in containing Covid-19.

Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc has said that Vietnam wishes to enhance cooperation with China that is comprehensive, efective and of mutual interest.

Vietnam’s President Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the Boao Forum. Photo: VNExpress

The principle is aimed to keep peaceful and stable environment for the further development of the bilateral relations, Phuc said at the Boao Forum for Asia held both online and offline.

He said the two countries are close neighbors and having worked together in containing Covid-19 for economic growth that makes both to be bright spots of the region and the world.

Addressing the four-day event themed “A World in Change: Join Hands to Strengthen Global Governance and Advance Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Cooperation” that concluded on April 21, Phuc called for international solidarity in combating the pandemic.

He listed issues of central attention namely promoting cooperation in pandemic control, ensuring vaccine access at reasonable cost, guaranteeing macroeconomic stability, facilitating trade and investment, securing supply chains, boosting production and creating jobs, mobilizing resources for sustainable and inclusive economic development, and building synchronous and developing human resources for digital transformation.

The conference covers several topics including carbon neutrality, climate change and digital economy.

Established in 2001 by 29 member countries, the Boao Forum for Asia is an international organization held annually in Boao, China’s Hainan province to promote economic integration in Asia.

Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City lead Vietnam e-business index 2021

April 21, 2021 by hanoitimes.vn

The trend of e-commerce development differs between slow-growing regions and developed regions.

Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City continue to lead Vietnam e-business index 2021 (EBI 2021), according to the latest report released on April 20 by the Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM) in Hanoi.

Source: the VECOM. Chart: Phi Nhat

E-commerce gap

Ho Chi Minh City leads the e-commerce index with a total score of 67.6 points, followed by Hanoi with a total score of 55.7 points, the central city of Danang with 19.04 points, the southern province of Binh Duong with 14.76 points and the southern province of Dong Nai with 11.14 points.

The e-commerce gap between two biggest cities (Hanoi and HCM City) and other provinces remained unchanged. The northern port city of Haiphong was relagated from the third position to the sixth in the e-commerce index this year.

The Vietnam E-business Index (EBI) in 2021 was based on three key criteria: human resources and infrastructure in information technology, e-commerce transactions between enterprises and consumers, and among businesses.

According to the VECOM, the government-to-business transactions criteria was removed from the EBI because the e-government gap between localities is narrowed. Since 2020, e-government has strongly developed in provinces/cities, many online public services related to e-commerce have been launched at local level.

The report on EBI from 2016 up to now showed that there is a huge disparity in the e-commerce sector between Hanoi, HCM City and other localities. During this period, Hanoi and HCM City have continuously accounted for 70% of the national e-commerce scale.

In 2019, the VECOM adopted a fast and sustainable e-commerce development strategy with the desire to help localities narrow the gap and create a larger market for online businesses.

“In 2020, many localities had taken positive moves to gradually narrow the gap and we predict the 2021-25 period is time of the rapid e-commerce development in the provinces and cities,” said Nguyen Binh Minh from the VECOM.

A local shopper is finding products on an e-commerce site. Photo: Phuong Thu

Steady e-commerce growth until 2025

According to a survey of about 5,000 VECOM member, in 2020, the country’s e-commerce increased by about 15%, reaching a turnover of about US$13.2 billion. The value is predicted to continue growing steadily in 2021 and until 2025.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has exerted a great and comprehensive impact on the economy – society, including e-commerce,” VECOM Chairman Nguyen Thanh Hung said. “Overcoming difficulties, e-commerce still stands firm, even has a breakthrough in some areas when Covid-19 has changed consumption and shopping habits.”

Businesses have also become more active in information technology application, changing organizational structure and business activities, accelerating digital transformation, training human resources, and making good use of online platforms for internal operations and connecting with customers, Hung said.

Being of the same mind, Trinh Khac Toan, a representative from Amazon Global Selling Vietnam also shared some information such as the proportion of e-commerce is increasing strongly because the growth of online retail sales in the world increased by 22% in the past five years, which is projected to be above 20% in 2021.

In fact, more and more Vietnamese businesses are opening stores on the Amazon e-commerce platform to find distributors and connect with hundreds of millions of consumers around the world.