Vietnam politics

Ambassador of Belarus to Việt Nam, Mr. Vladimir Goshin

On behalf of the Embassy of Belarus in Việt Nam I would like to congratulate the editorial board of the Việt Nam News on the 30th anniversary of its foundation and wish further impetuous development, bright and positive news as well as creative inspiration.

Ambassador of Belarus to Việt Nam, Mr. Vladimir Goshin. Courtesy Photo of the embassy

The Việt Nam News was the first printed periodical that I got to know closely after my arrival in Việt Nam as the Ambassador. And since then the Embassy has been regularly subscribing to the newspaper, which in my opinion is an important source of information. We highly appreciate the editorial office’s position on prompt and honest coverage of the events in the country, current social, political, economic, humanitarian and other projects, including, for example, information on measures taken to combat against COVID-19.

In the contemporary world there are too many various fakes and unfair usage of information in political campaigns aimed at forming a false perception of reality in the interests of certain social groups or states. I would like to highlight the high level of professionalism of the Việt Nam News correspondents who have cooperated with the Embassy over the past few years. I sincerely express my appreciation to the external information service for objective publications about the events in the world and Belarus in particular.

Let the talent, creativity, competence and dedication of the Việt Nam News team continue to serve the noble mission and the peoples of Belarus and Việt Nam would always get only the latest and kind news about the relations between our two friendly countries.

A worker at a construction site in Hà Nội in the hot weather. — VNA/VNS Photo Thành Đạt

HÀ NỘI — Northern and north-central provinces are sweltering under a severe hot wave, with temperatures in some places topping 40 degrees Celsius, announced the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

The extreme weather, which will cause temperatures to stay above 35 degrees Celsius from 10 to 19 hours per day, will also cause low humidity of between 40 and 60 per cent.

Hà Nội will experience extremely hot days, with the lowest temperatures around 29 – 31 degrees and the highs reaching 39 – 40 degrees. There will be places where the temperatures will exceed 40 degrees.

The heatwave is forecast to last through June 21.

Demand for electricity is likely to increase during the day. Vietnam Electricity (EVN) has advised agencies, production establishments and households to use electricity safely, economically and effectively.

Nguyễn Tiến Toàn from the Weather Forecast Office of the National Hydrometeorological Forecast Centre told Lao động (Labour) newspaper that the heatwave was caused by a low-pressure system in the west combined with the foehn effect.

The foehn effect makes the heat last longer during the day and lowers humidity, posing a high risk of fires, he said.

The hot weather has negatively affected the daily activities of people and threatened residents’ health.

Nguyễn Văn Nam, a shipper in Hà Nội, said he had to refuse many orders due to the hot weather. “It is too hot, particularly between 11am and 2pm. Many shippers like me have to stop working during that time to avoid the heat. It will be very tiring and you easily get dehydrated,” he said.

Medical experts warn of dehydration, exhaustion, and heat stroke as the human body is exposed to high temperatures for a long time.

The National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting also warned that Hà Nội and other provinces in the north will see a high ultraviolet (UV) index.

The maximum UV index usually occurs from 10am to 1pm.

A UV index of 2.5-5.4 is moderate, 5.5-7.4 is high risk, 7.5 -10.4 is very high, and more than 10.5 or higher is considered dangerous.

From June 17 to 19, the UV index in Hà Nội and other localities was forecast to reach 9-10.

The country is projected to face more widespread heatwaves this month. — VNS

Medical workers take COVID-19 samples from residents in residential area No 1 in Ward 15, HCM City’s Gò Vấp District. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — HCM City broke its record daily increase of new COVID-19 cases on Friday with 149 locally-transmitted infections. A day earlier, it reported 137 cases, according to the Health Ministry.

Việt Nam confirmed 264 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, including five imported and 259 locally-transmitted infections.

Among the domestic infections, 149 were found in HCM City, 76 in Bắc Giang, 16 in Bắc Ninh,12 in Bình Dương, three in Hà Tĩnh, two in Hòa Bình and one in Lào Cai. Of them, 232 were detected in quarantine or locked down areas.

So far, the country has recorded 12,414 COVID-19 cases, including 10,755 domestic and 1,669 imported infections. The number of cases since the fourth wave of the pandemic began on April 27 has reached 9,172.

The ministry said as many as 4,733 patients have recovered from COVID-19 so far, as 80 of them were given the all-clear on Friday. Meanwhile the death toll reached 62 as the latest death was reported on Friday afternoon.

Twenty-four provinces have gone 14 days without detecting new cases.

By Friday evening, nearly two million vaccine doses have been administered, with 89,833 people fully vaccinated with two shots. About 14-20 per cent of the vaccinated people experienced post-vaccination reactions, equal to the proportion stated by vaccine producers and the World Health Organization.

Regarding vaccination against COVID-19 for elderly people and people with underlying medical conditions such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity, Dương Thị Hồng, deputy director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology said that they were among vulnerable groups facing a high risk of COVID-19 infection, so they needed to get vaccinated. However, the vaccination would be delivered to them only when they were in stable health conditions with health indicators in normal limits, Hồng said.

HCM City’s vaccination drive with nearly 800,000 vaccine doses donated by Japan to Việt Nam would begin on Saturday. —VNS