Day: November 23, 2022

 

A new cold spell has hit the northern region since early November 23, according to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

 

It is projected to cause rains and cold weather over the next days with the lowest temperature ranging from 19-22 degrees Celsius in the northern plain, and below 16 degrees Celsius in the mountainous region.

 

From November 23-24, northern and central Vietnam will start experiencing rainstorms with the lowest temperature in the plain and mountainous regions ranging from 19-21 degrees Celsius, and 16-19 degrees Celsius, respectively.

 

The northern plain and coastal regions are predicted to witness showers and rains, the centre said.

 

Meanwhile, heavy rains are forecast to hit the southern area of central Nghe An, Ha Tinh, and Quang Binh provinces in the next two days. The Central Highlands and southern regions will also see showers and rainstorms.

 

Experts warned of one or two storms or tropical depressions in the East Sea in late November and early December.

 

On November 23 night, the Gulf of Tonkin, the south region of the East Sea, including Truong Sa archipelago (Spratly), the territorial waters from Quang Tri to Ca Mau, Ca Mau to Kien Giang and the Gulf of Thailand will be struck by downpours and strong thunderstorms with risks of tornadoes and strong winds./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

The State Bank of Vietnam set the daily reference exchange rate for the US dollar at 23,672 VND/USD on November 23, down 2 VND from the previous day.

 

With the current trading band of +/-5%, the ceiling rate applicable to commercial banks during the day is 24,856 VND/USD and the floor rate 22,488 VND/USD.

 

The opening-hour rates at commercial banks fluctuated with rises seen in buying rate.

 

At 8:40am, Vietcombank listed the buying rate at 24,627 VND/USD, up 50 VND from the end of November 22 and the selling rate unchanged at 24,857 VND/USD.

 

Meanwhile, BIDV raised the buying rate by 35 VND to 23,655 VND/USD and cut 2 VND from the selling rate to 24,855 VND/USD (selling).

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

About 85% of healthcare workers develop clinical symptoms after contracting COVID-19, with men having more symptoms than women, a study revealed.

 

The study, which was conducted on healthcare workers at the Hospital for Rehabilitation – Treatment of Occupational Diseases on the health status of healthcare workers after COVID-19, examines the proportion of medical staff with the presence of clinical symptoms following COVID-19 disease and related factors.

 

It also found that people with mental health problems are at a greater risk of developing post-COVID symptoms.

 

Phan Nhat Khanh, Deputy Director of the Hospital for Rehabilitation – Treatment of Occupational Diseases, said the study was conducted on 292 medical staff at the hospital from March to October 2022.

 

The results show that the COVID-19 pandemic has put a lot of pressure on medical staff. Up to 85% of healthcare workers develop clinical symptoms following COVID-19. In particular, the number of male medical staff showing clinical symptoms after contracting COVID-19 was 1.13 times higher than female healthcare workers.

 

At the same time, healthcare workers with underlying medical conditions are more likely to develop clinical symptoms following COVID-19 infection. People who are experiencing mental health problems such as stress, depression, anxiety, will have the possibility of showing post-COVID clinical symptoms from 1.13 to 1.22 times higher than the general population.

 

“The COVID-19 pandemic has put great pressure on the health system, in which the medical staff has been greatly affected,” Khanh said.

 

“The survey shows that the need for physical and mental health care for healthcare workers after the COVID-19 pandemic is essential, especially for high-risk groups.”/.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

To restore the population of critically endangered ungulates, the Centre for Nature Conservation and Development and the Department for Nature Conservation and Biodiversity jointly held a consultation meeting on November 22 to finalise a project to receive and raise, and restore the populations of Indian hog deer (Cervus porcinus), Rucervus eldii, giant muntjac, and Truong Son (Annamite) muntjac.

 

In Vietnam, these ungulates, which only live in the central and southern Truong Son mountain range, are in danger of extinction due to illegal hunting and capture and loss of habitat.

 

However, there have been to date no conservation proposals or intervention measures to restore populations of these species in the country.

 

They are in danger of quietly disappearing and becoming extinct, if no actions are taken in the next five years, stressed Hoang Thi Thanh Nhan, deputy head of the Department for Nature Conservation and Biodiversity under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

 

Nguyen Manh Ha from the Centre for Nature Conservation and Development said that the project aims to build a programme to receive, breed, release and monitor four species of the deer family. From experience collected in the implementation of the project, more lessons are expected to be drawn to apply in the conservation of other endangered species./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

Vietnam needs to specify target markets and control the implementation of standards in organic agricultural production to meet the needs of the domestic and foreign markets.

 

At a forum on the development of organic farm produce held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) on November 21 in Ho Chi Minh City, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam said that organic agricultural production must be associated with the development of the consumption market.

 

Organic products with specific characteristics must comply with strict standards and often have low yields and high costs. These products are for the high-end market segment.

 

According to Nam, organic agriculture development must be the right way to approach potential customers at home and abroad.

 

Along with reasonable planning, standards and management for the production and certification of organic agricultural products must be strictly implemented to improve the quality of Vietnam’s certified organic products.

 

Vietnamese organic farming products are exported to about 180 countries and territories, with an export turnover of 335 million USD per year. The exported organic farming products are tea, shrimp, rice, cashew nuts, pepper, cinnamon, anise, essential oils, and spices.

 

The main export markets of those products include France, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, China, Cambodia, the US, Italy, Germany, the UK, Russia, Canada, Belgium, Thailand, Malaysia, Netherlands, Hong Kong (China) and Taiwan (China).

 

According to MARD, market research companies believed that the demand for organic food is on a strong upward trend and even exceeds the supply on the world market.

 

The scale of the global organic food market is forecast to have an annual growth rate of 14% during 2021-2026, from 227.19 billion USD in 2021 to 259.06 billion USD by 2022 and 437.36 billion USD by 2026. The regions having the fastest growth are North America and Europe.

 

The Government has issued Decree 109/2018/ND-CP on organic farming regulations and a scheme for developing organic agriculture from 2020 to 2030, creating a foundation for the development of Vietnam’s organic agriculture industry, according to Nguyen Quoc Toan, Director of the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development.

 

As a result, the area of organic agricultural production is increasing rapidly and has so far reached 174,351 ha, 47% higher than that in 2016. The variety of organic farming products is also increasing though output is lower than expected.

 

Most localities produce organic farming products. In addition, the number of organisations and individuals doing organic agricultural production is increasing.

 

Organic agricultural products are mainly consumed in big cities such as Hanoi, Da Nang and HCM City at modern distribution channels such as trading centres, supermarket chains, and convenience stores. Organic farming products on the domestic market are mainly rice, vegetables, fruits, meat, tea, coffee, pepper and cashew nuts.

 

However, the supply still needs to meet the demand, and many certified organic farming products are for export.

 

Toan said that developing organic agriculture in Vietnam had faced many difficulties and obstacles and had not had significant results.

 

There were difficulties in awareness, production costs, input materials, human resources and technology application. Some other major areas for improvement needed more specific support mechanisms and policies to encourage investment and development for organic agriculture. The support scale was small compared to real needs.

 

Le Trong Kha, CEO of LeKhaMart, said that Vietnam’s organic agricultural production was still fragmented, and the production area was still modest and not concentrated.

 

The planning and linkages among regions and enterprises in rural areas still needed to be improved. In addition, the organisation of production chains had yet to be implemented on a large scale, so the development of organic agriculture had not gained significant results.

 

The development of organic agricultural products follows the trend but needs to meet strict standards under the standard organic certification, however, according to Kha, the maintenance of organic standards after being certified has yet to be taken seriously.

 

Vietnam should have strict sanctions to create fairness and transparency in organic farming development, he said./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency