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COVID-19 testing (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Health has proposed considering COVID-19 a Group A infectious disease , not an endemic disease in its latest draft on COVID-19 prevention and control measures in the new situation. Per the draft, Vietnam is still in the transition period between pandemic prevention and sustainable management. Regarding the reason why COVID-19 has not been considered an endemic disease in Vietnam yet, the Ministry of Health said that most countries in the world are in a state of unstable cases and deaths, with an erratic increase and decrease trend when new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus appear. At the same time, acquired immunity (due to vaccines and infection) has not been stable for a long time and decreases over time. As a result, the application of epidemic prevention and control measures should be flexible and gradually moves towards the "new normal". The announcement of the end of the COVID-19 pandemic in … [Read more...] about Health Ministry yet to consider COVID-19 endemic disease

Do Hung Viet, Assistant to the Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs, made the remarks while attending the annual debate on women’s rights at the HRC’s 50th regular session in Geneva on June 27. In his speech, Viet highlighted the important role of women, stressing the need to ensuring their rights and development opportunities through specific and effective support policies. He also shared Vietnam’s experience and efforts in this regard, noting Vietnam is one of the countries with the longest maternity leaves in the world. Emphasising the country’s priority for gender equality promotion and women empowerment, he added Vietnam is ready to cooperate with other countries in these common efforts. At the debate, participants underlined the necessity to build comprehensive and effective policies for ensuring gender equality and rights of women, who are in charge of a huge domestic workload but unpaid or underpaid, which has subsequently affected women’s full participation in … [Read more...] about Vietnam keeps prioritizing gender equality promotion: officials

Synopsis The new guideline cuts the length of mandatory quarantine for overseas travellers to seven days plus three more of home monitoring -- a drastic drop from about 21 days of quarantine and home monitoring combined. Related Indians visiting Malaysia can now get visas on arrival Canada says no test results needed for vaccinated travelers Indian tourists are flocking back to Australia. Here's why China on Tuesday reduced the length of mandatory quarantine for inbound travellers, in the biggest relaxation of entry restrictions after sticking to a rigid zero Covid policy throughout the pandemic. The new guideline cuts the length of mandatory quarantine for overseas travellers to seven days plus three more of home monitoring -- a drastic drop from about 21 days of quarantine and home monitoring combined. China closed off its international borders at the beginning of the pandemic and the number of international flights is still tightly restricted in … [Read more...] about China halves quarantine time for overseas travellers

Ho Chi Minh City Urban Traffic Management and Operation Centre (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) will exert efforts to create a modern and safe national digital infrastructure , and a new space for digital economic growth, and developing e-government towards the building of a digital government. The goal is set in the ministry’s action plan for the implementation of the National Strategy on the fourth Industrial Revolution by 2030. Under the plan, by 2025, Vietnam's e-government index according to the United Nations' ranking will be in the group of four leading countries in Southeast Asia. Vietnam will rank among the top 40 countries in terms of the Global Cybersecurity Index of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The proportion of the digital economy will reach 20% of GDP, and the proportion of the digital economy in each industry or field will reach at least 10%. By the year, over 50% of the population … [Read more...] about Ministry works to create modern national digital infrastructure

The Vietnam Circular Economy Forum 2022 took place on June 28 with a focus on how to translate the commitment on net zero emissions into action. Addressing the hybrid event, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha highlighted Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s message to the forum that calls for solidarity and joint actions to reduce carbon emissions towards net zero like the way humankind has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government leader also emphasised cooperation among the countries, as well as between them and international organisations so as to step up circular economy models, especially by sharing knowledge, boosting joint scientific researches, developing and transferring technology, Ha said. Environmental and climate issues always enjoy the top priority in the agenda of the Vietnamese Party, National Assembly, and Government, along with national development programmes and plans, with the ultimate goal of protecting people’s health, ensuring … [Read more...] about Forum seeks to translate net zero carbon pledge into action

Vietnam will keep a close eye on the emergence of new strains. Vietnam has detected imported BA.5 Omicron sub-variant after conducting gene sequencing of newly confirmed patients' samples, according to Dr. Phan Trong Lan, director of the General Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health (MoH). Lan underscored that initial research showed the Omicron sub-lineages BA.4 and BA.5 spread faster than the old sub-variants (BA.1 and BA.2). There has been no specific evidence of the new sub-variants’ virulence, but some studies indicated that there is an aggravation in the African region. However,  the director confirmed that Omicron sub-variant BA.2 still remains the dominant one in the country. “The emergence of new strains is inevitable as a result of border reopening and the new normal situation, in which precautionary protocols are relaxed,” Lan said. He added that the BA.5 sub-variant was first detected in South Africa in January. Since then, it has … [Read more...] about BA.5 Omicron sub-variant detected in Vietnam