Day: April 26, 2022

A total 8,431 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in the past 24 hours from 4pm April 25 to 4pm April 26, according to the Ministry of Health.

Hanoi continued to report the highest number of infections on the day with 937 cases, followed by Phu Tho with 702 and Quang Ninh with 408.

Hanoi supplemented 40,000 cases to the national tally after completing verification of information.

The national tally reached 10,620,203.

A total 23,465 COVID-19 patients were given the all clear on April 26, bringing the number of recoveries so far to 9,116,225.

There are 620 patients needing breathing support, while an additional 8 deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours, taking the total fatalities to 43,029, equal to 0.4 percent of the total caseload.

By April 25, the country had injected 213,061,726 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, including 879,989 first shots for children from 5 to 11 years old./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Major firms in the food and beverage (F&B) industry are taking different steps to recover and expand their operations after two years of struggling against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Patricia Marques, General Manager of Starbucks Vietnam, told Dau tu (Vietnam Investment Review) that facing pandemic-caused difficulties for more than two years, consumers are still tightening the string of their purse. Therefore, Starbucks has shut down some stores in prime locations but also opened new ones.

The coffeehouse chain is now running 78 stores in six provinces and cities and working to adapt to the new normal, she said, expressing her belief in the recovery of Vietnam’s economy and that everything will return to the pre-pandemic status.

As F&B is one of the three hardest-hit sectors in the pandemic, as soon as Vietnam began easing social distancing to enter the new normal last October, Starbucks has been ramping up efforts.

It closed the store at Rex Hotel, which had one of the best locations in Ho Chi Minh City, in 2021 after years of lower-than-expected performance. Meanwhile, the store at VivoCity in the city’s District 7 has had its design changed to become more attractive to families with young children who spend their weekends and holidays at this shopping mall.

Besides, online selling has helped Starbucks retain its market share, and revenue from this activity is still growing, even when restaurants have reopened. The number of orders placed online has soared even 20- or 50-fold.

Like Starbucks, Golden Gate is also accelerating recovery steps.

Hoang Quoc Khanh, an executive at Golden Gate, said this restaurant chain will focus on diversifying revenue sources, optimising costs, and enhancing operational efficiency.

Despite the pandemic’s adverse impacts on the entire restaurant sector in Vietnam last year and the shutdown of its restaurants for one-third of the year, Golden Gate still recorded 3.32 trillion VND (144.5 million USD) in revenue, equivalent to 73 percent of the figure in 2020. Its revenue has rebounded, especially since the fourth quarter of 2021 when restaurants began reopening.

Last year, it opened 44 new restaurants while closing and converting 37 others. The firm ran over 400 restaurants as of late February 2022 and plans another 600 in the next few years.

Most of its chains have also upgraded their space since late 2020.

In the time ahead, Golden Gate will focus on hotpot and BBQ restaurants, serve more dishes imbued with the Japanese culture at Japanese-style restaurants, expand presence at shopping malls and big cities other than Hanoi and HCM City, and step up investment in digital transformation in the next three years to improve customers’ experience./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Level-2 Field Hospital No. 4 has been transferred from the Vietnam Military Medical University to the Vietnam Department for Peacekeeping Operations.

The department will work closely with the university and relevant agencies to ensure that the hospital completes its tasks.

Officers, medical workers and staff have undergone training in expertise, military, politics, and foreign languages in accordance with standards of the United Nations and the World Health Organisation.

The field hospital was launched in November 2021 with 63 official members.

It is set to depart for the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) on April 27, along with Military Engineering Unit No.1, to perform duties at the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

Vietnam’s first Level-2 Field Hospital departed for UNMISS in October 2018, the second left for the mission in November 2019, and the third in early 2021./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Officials of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) and the Lao Front for National Development (LFND) discussed their cooperation in 2022 during an online meeting on April 26.

The event was co-chaired by Vice President of the VFF Central Committee Phung Khanh Tai and Vice President of the LFND Central Committee Chanpheng Southivong.

Tai extended his greetings to the Lao side on the occasion of their traditional New Year (Bun Pi May), and commended the achievements the LFND has recorded, especially in promoting great national unity and patriotism among Laotians at home and abroad, and guiding agencies and the public to implement the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP)’s policies and guidelines.

The Vietnamese official noted his hope that the LFND will uphold its role and gain more achievements in the time ahead.

The year 2022 marks the 60th founding anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties (September 5), 45 years of the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (July 18), and the Vietnam-Laos Solidarity and Friendship Year, he said.

Tai suggested the sides coordinate together to well organise celebrations, enhance people-to-people exchanges and pay more attention to the communication work to help people of the two countries, especially youths, to understand more about the special, faithful and rare relationship.

Regarding the memorandum of understanding reached at a conference between Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, Tai said the VFF and the LFND should instruct all-level front committees, especially those in border provinces, to implement the document, and analyse its advantages and challenges.

Chanpheng also expressed his hope that the two sides will further effectively deploy the cooperation agreements, and coordinate to organise visits by their leaders as well as training courses and exchanges.

The Lao official believed that their bilateral cooperation will be deepened in an effective and practical manner, thus helping to foster the Vietnam-Laos friendship./

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Malaysia and Indonesia are leading the recovery of domestic travel demand in Southeast Asia, reaching 100 percent growth in March compared with the same level in 2019, an official of Google Asia Pacific has said.

The Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam are quickly following the lead.

Google Asia Pacific travel lead Hermione Joye said travel growth in the region was attributed to the dropping of travel restriction orders, reopening of borders, as well as the easing of quarantine and testing restrictions.

Recovery has started to take place across Southeast Asia as the governments are easing restrictions to support travel demand, she said during a virtual media roundtable on the revival of travel in the region.

On the broader market, Google internal data showed that 40 percent of inbound tourism from the US and Canada went to the Philippines and Vietnam.

Indonesia’s Bali resort island was the fastest growing market in March 2022, while Thailand’s Bangkok ranked seventh./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The traffic police department has issued advice to road users during the time the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31) takes place in Hanoi and 11 adjacent localities from May 6-23.

To ensure traffic safety and prevent traffic jams during the said period, the police urge road users to strictly follow traffic rules and the directions of traffic police and other authorized forces.

Road users are advised to keep updated on traffic situation and when possible avoid peak hours and routes with heavy traffic, especially those in areas around the venues of the SEA Games 31 opening and closing ceremonies on May 12 and 23, as well as competitions in the framework of the regional sporting event in the 12 hosting localities.

They are also asked to make way for priority vehicles on the road.

The traffic police department has requested that local authorities instruct relevant agencies to coordinate with the police force to ensure traffic safety and order and prevent congestion on the road during the time the SEA Games 31 is taking place.

SEA Games 31, themed “For a Stronger South East Asia”, will be held in the capital city of Hanoi and 11 neighbouring provinces and cities.

Featuring 40 sports with 526 events, it is expected to attract around 10,000 participants. The biennial event was initially slated for late 2021 but delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A new medical quarantine process at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City has helped ease congestion amid the rising number of passengers in recent days.

According to the city’s Department of Health, the airport handles 40 inbound flights each day carrying from 4,000-4,500 passengers.

Following the Ministry of Health’s regulations, all passengers arriving in Vietnam by air must show negative COVID-19 test results and make health declarations on the website tokhaiyte.vn, which has led to congestion, especially when several flights land at the same time.

Meanwhile, many passengers fail to make health declarations before boarding or encounter problems during the process.

To deal with the issue, since April 25, the city’s Department of Health has applied measures to renovate the process at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport, including the exemption COVID-19 test checks.

As airlines are required to ensure all passengers are negative for COVID-19, the department asked the city’s Centre for Disease Control to skip this process at the airport.

The department requested the airport to regulate passengers’ movements upon their arrival. Those who successfully make their health declarations will follow a separate stream to complete immigration procedures. Meanwhile, those who have yet to do so can make their declarations while moving from the plane to the terminal or into a private area with the support of medical workers or airline staff.

Since the new process has been applied, congestion at the airport has greatly reduced./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The International Qwankido Federation, a member of the Vietnam Vovinam (traditional martial arts) Federation (VVF), hosted the first ever world championship for teenagers in Padova city in the Veneto region of Italy from April 23 – 24.

Nguyen Thanh Vinh, First Secretary of the Vietnamese Embassy in the country, highlighted the significance of the event, saying that this is a bridge contributing to further strengthening cultural relations and people-to-people exchange between Vietnam and Italy.

He spoke highly of the authorities of Padova city and the Veneto region for their coordination in organising the event, as well as efforts of the federation in promoting and developing Vietnam’s traditional martial arts in Italy in particular, and the world in general.

According to Pham Xuan Tong, the federation founder, the Vietnamese traditional martial arts have developed strongly in Europe, especially in Italy in recent years.

The event attracted the participation of 500 athletes from the arts clubs in 35 countries worldwide.

Many masters and athletes expressed their desire to study more deeply about Vietnamese history and culture, learn the Vietnamese language and visit the Southeast Asian nation.

Established in 1981 in Milan, Italy, and became a member of the VVF in 1990, the martial art is practiced in dozens of countries around the world./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency