HCM CITY — HCM City has strengthened safety measures to keep out the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
Its Department of Health has instructed medical centres across the city to carefully monitor passengers entering through Tân Sơn Nhất Airport and Sài Gòn Port.
Nguyễn Thị Huỳnh Mai, the department’s chief of office, said: “When a person tests positive, their sample will be taken for genomic sequencing. Patients who have the Omicron variant will be transferred to field hospital no 12 in Thủ Đức City.”
District preventive health centres have to report to the department and the city Centre for Disease Control (HCDC) unusual occurrences like a sharp rise in Covid cases or deaths, and also identify the strain.
Hospitals need to activate all preventive measures when detecting Omicron cases.
Oxygen supply is adequate now, according to Mai.
Nguyễn Hồng Tâm, deputy operations director of HCDC, said the city was ready to vaccinate children aged 3-11.
The city had drawn up the list of children and would vaccinate them in 2022 since the ministry had issued guidelines, he said.
The city has 464,000 doses of vaccines, and can immunise around 100,000 people a day.
It will receive more than one million doses soon to give booster shots in January. — VNS
South Korea reported a sharp increase in omicron infections on Friday, with health authorities saying it was possible the coronavirus variant had already spread within the community.
The country counted 269 new infections of the new variant, which pushed the total caseload to 894, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. It is the steepest gain since omicron was first detected in the country.
Of the 269, 186 were foreign arrivals and 83 were local transmissions.
About 70 percent of the imported cases were from the US.
Since Thursday, health authorities have adopted a newly developed PCR test, the first of its kind in the world, which can detect the omicron variant within three to four hours. Previously it took about three to five days to distinguish the latest variant from other strains.
“With the introduction of rapid testing, there has been an increase in tests itself, which led to a rise in confirmed cases. Also we reckon that the variant has already penetrated local communities to some degree,” said Park Young-joon, an official at the KCDA.
Including the omicron tally, the number of new daily COVID-19 infections stood at 4,875 Friday, raising the country’s total caseload to 630,838.
SINGAPORE – The enhanced testing regime for travellers entering Singapore on vaccinated travel lanes (VTLs) will be extended for another four weeks.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a statement on Friday (Dec 31) that the enhanced scheme, first rolled out for four weeks on Dec 6, has been effective in detecting imported Omicron cases among VTL travellers and reducing onward transmission.
As of Thursday (Dec 30,) 912 Omicron imported cases have been detected in Singapore, said MOH. Of these, 685 were detected through the enhanced testing regime for VTL travellers.
Added the ministry: “As such, we will be extending the enhanced testing regime for an additional four weeks and will review it as the situation evolves.”
Under the enhanced testing regime, all travellers entering Singapore on VTLs must be tested daily over seven days.
Travellers arriving in Singapore via air VTLs must do a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test upon arrival, while those entering the country via a land VTL can do a supervised antigen rapid test (ART).
On the second, fourth, fifth and sixth day, they can perform an unsupervised, self-administered ART at their place of residence. They must test negative during this period before going out, and must submit their results online using a link that will be sent to them via their declared contact details after arrival in Singapore.
On the third and seventh day, these travellers will have to go to a combined test centre or quick test centre to do the test under supervision.
The enhanced testing regime was first announced by MOH on Dec 3 for a four-week period from Dec 6 to Jan 2.
MOH also said on Friday (Dec 31) that non-VTL travellers who have to serve a seven- or ten- day stay-home notice at either their place of residence or at a dedicated facility will no longer have to do on-arrival PCR tests from 11.59pm next Friday (Jan 7).
But non-VTL travellers entering Singapore from Hong Kong, Macao, China and Taiwan will still be required to do an on-arrival PCR test as these travellers do not have to serve a stay-home notice.
This requirement for on-arrival tests for non-VTL travellers had been put in place to pick up the Omicron cases early as the variant was new, and more information was needed, said MOH.
The ministry added: “In addition, these travellers will also be required to undergo a PCR test at the end of their stay-home notice, and have to test negative before they are allowed to exit, further reducing the risk of onward transmission.”
MOH said Singapore will adjust its border measures as the global situation evolves, and in tandem with its roadmap to becoming a Covid-resilient nation.
Travellers are advised to visit the SafeTravel website to check the latest border measures upon entry into Singapore and be prepared to be subjected to the prevailing border measures upon entry.
HÀ NỘI — Plans are in place to resume some regular international flight routes to Việt Nam, almost two years after they were halted because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first regular international route to resume will be the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines flying to Japan on January 5, 2022. Vietjet Air and All Nippon Airways will resume flights on January 6, 2022.
Deputy Minister of Transport Lê Anh Tuấn said that it was impossible for this route to resume sooner, due to the Japanese New Year holiday which means that testing facilities are not operating.
However, only those eligible for entry to Japan will be able to fly. A ten-day quarantine on the Japanese side is still required.
Taiwan (China) also agreed to restart flights, according to a letter sent on December 24 to the Vietnamese authority. Taiwan authorities have suggested at least five flights a week.
On December 27, the aviation authorities of Singapore issued a written agreement that Vietnam Airlines can operate two flights per week. As well as this, Vietjet Air will operate one flight per week and Pacific Airlines will operate one flight per week to the city state.
On December 28, the Cambodian side agreed in writing, after requesting more information from Việt Nam about the proposal. Vietnam Airlines will operate four flights per week.
Vietnam Airlines has already been licensed by the aviation authorities of both Việt Nam and the United States to operate regular flights between the two countries. The airline has been cleared to immediately begin flights as planned and does not need any further approval.
Negotiations on restarting flights to other countries are still ongoing. The Thai aviation authorities received a request on December 27 regarding the resumption of flights to Việt Nam, but an official response has not yet been received.
The ministry is also working with representatives of the South Korean embassy and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Việt Nam to push for an early reply on the plan to resume flights to Việt Nam. South Korea is currently applying a 10-day quarantine for foreigners entering the country, while Taiwan (China) also has COVID-dependant entry requirements.
Mainland China and Laos have not yet responded to Việt Nam’s request to a letter sent from the Civil Aviation Administration of Việt Nam on December 23.
More to come
On December 27, the Ministry of Transport chaired a meeting between the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Health, Transport, Public Security, and National Defence and airlines to discuss and agree on the resumption of regular international commercial flights.
The Government has agreed to reopen regular international passenger flights to nine countries and territories; Beijing/Guangzhou (China), Tokyo (Japan), Seoul (South Korea), Taipei (Taiwan – China), Bangkok (Thailand), Singapore, Vientiane (Laos), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), and San Francisco/Los Angeles (the US).
The first scheduled international commercial flight to Japan is on January 5, 2022.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the demand for returning the country by Vietnamese citizens in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan (China) will be huge, especially during the Tết (Lunar New Year) holidays.
“In order to better meet the demand of overseas Vietnamese trying to return, representatives of the ministries agreed to increase the frequency of flights to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan (China) to seven flights per week to help passengers have more options at a more reasonable price,” Tuấn said.
Regarding the proposal of airlines to open regular flights to Europe and Australia, the ministries said that Vietnamese citizens in European countries and Australia hope to have direct flights to Viêt Nam for the Tết holidays.
The transport ministry had previously proposed to the Prime Minister resuming flights to France, Germany, Russia and Australia from January 1, 2022. At the meeting, the ministries agreed to apply regular international commercial flights to the European and Australian markets.
The Prime Minister has been asked to consider increasing the frequency of regular international commercial flights carrying passengers between Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan (China).
It has also been proposed that the pilot plan be extended to Europe and Australia to satisfy the demand created by Vietnamese citizens abroad trying to return for the Lunar New Year holidays.
Under the ministry’s plan, regular international passenger flights will resume to Beijing/Guangzhou (China), Tokyo (Japan), Seoul (the Republic of Korea), Taipei (Taiwan – China), Bangkok (Thailand), Singapore, Vientiane (Laos), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), and San Francisco/Los Angeles (the US). — VNS
South Koreas consumer prices grew at the fastest pace in 10 years in 2021 due to surging energy costs and high prices of farm products, data showed Friday.
Consumer prices rose 2.5 percent this year from a year earlier, accelerating from a 0.5 percent on-year gain in 2020, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.
It marked the steepest on-year rise since 2011, when consumer inflation spiked 4 percent.
In December, consumer prices grew 3.7 percent from the previous year, slowing from a 3.8 percent on-year gain in November. Inflation rose more than 3 percent for the third month in a row.
The 2021 reading is higher than the 2.3 percent growth forecast by the Bank of Korea (BOK). It also exceeded the government’s projection of 2.4 percent.
The BOK aims to keep annual inflation at 2 percent over the medium term.
South Korea’s consumer prices are under upward pressure due to rising oil prices and high prices of agricultural products. Demand-pull inflationary pressure has also built up amid the economic recovery. (Yonhap)
Many people have begun traveling home for the New Year holidays amid the spread of the omicron coronavirus variant.
Passengers formed long lines at an airport infection screening station on Wednesday. One passenger, a 50-year-old company employee from Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, tested negative in an antigen test before boarding the plane to Miyazaki Prefecture to see his parents for the first time in two years. The man said he could not make up his mind until the last minute whether to fly home amid a surge of infections.
“I was relieved to test negative, but I won’t be visiting a shrine for New Year’s or going out to eat,” he said. “I want to be careful to not get infected.”
Unlike last year, when people tended to stay home for the New Year’s holiday, this year saw an increase in the number of people at airports and train stations.
As of Dec. 17, reservations for domestic flights between Dec. 25 and Jan. 4 for Japan Airlines Group were at 66.1%, 23 percentage points higher compared to the same period last year. Reservations for All Nippon Airways Group were at 65%, up 15.7 percentage points compared to last year.
On Shinkansen bullet trains, the occupancy rate for non-reserved seats on the Tohoku, Yamagata, Joetsu and Hokuriku shinkansen trains from Tokyo were between 80% and 130% as of 4 p.m. on Wednesday. On the Tokaido Shinkansen, the occupancy rate for non-reserved seats reached a maximum of 140%.
MANILA, Philippines — An infectious disease expert on Thursday said the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases in the country was “alarming” as the independent pandemic monitor OCTA Research group warned that Metro Manila was now at “moderate risk” after the reproduction number of the coronavirus jumped to a “critical” rate.
The Department of Health (DOH) reported a 6.6-percent positivity rate on Thursday, above the World Health Organization’s 5-percent benchmark—the indicator that infection is under control.
For the first time in over a month, new COVID-19 cases soared to 1,623, nearly double the 889 cases recorded on Wednesday, and more than the 1,153 reported on Nov. 23.
“I would say it’s alarming because if you look at the trend, it quickly went up and this is something that we have to really closely monitor,” said Dr. Rontgene Solante, chief of the adult infectious diseases and tropical medicine unit of San Lazaro Hospital.
The increase in the number of cases can be attributed to holiday-related mobility and gatherings, he said in an interview with ANC.
The DOH reminded the public to adhere strictly to health protocols.
“With the newly reported cases doubling the past two days, the DOH enjoins everyone to do what is within our power to avoid making year 2022 another version of 2020. Let us act with utmost vigilance as if the highly transmissible Omicron variant is already here,” the DOH said.
‘Considered critical’
It urged everyone to “reassess” plans for celebrating the New Year, saying that the “safest option” was to remain “in your family bubble.”
OCTA said that there was an increase in the risk classification for the National Capital Region (NCR) from very low risk (Dec. 16 to Dec. 22) to moderate risk (Dec. 23 to Dec. 29), based on the rise in reproduction number, positivity rate and number of reported cases.
It said on Twitter on Thursday that the reproduction number, or the average number of persons who could potentially be infected, increased from a “very low” 0.51 to 1.47, which is “considered critical.”
A reproduction number of less than 1 indicates that transmission is slowing down.
The seven-day positivity rate, or the proportion of people found infected among those tested for the virus, jumped to 3.86 percent from 0.69 percent the previous week, the group noted.
Status quo
It added that NCR’s seven-day average in new daily cases increased from 79 to 215, while the average daily attack rate per 100,000 individuals also increased from a “very low” 0.56 to a “low” 1.52.OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David said healthcare utilization was still “very low,” increasing only slightly from 18 percent to 19 percent.
OCTA agreed with Solante that the increase in key COVID-19 data was not surprising because of the increased number of holiday gatherings.
“At this time, it is still uncertain if there will be a continued increase in the number of new COVID-19 cases, or if this number will drop back down once the holidays are over,” the group said.
“We need to prevent this increase in new cases in the NCR from becoming a surge of infections,” it said.
Concerned about the rising number of cases and the threat from Omicron, Malacañang announced on Thursday that all parts of the country would remain under alert level 2 until Jan. 15. Portions of the country were placed under Alert Level 2 starting November and this became nationwide by Dec. 3.
Businesses and officials support the retention of alert level 2 in January, saying it has allowed most businesses to increase their earnings to nearly pre-pandemic levels.
Alert level 2 allows businesses to operate at 50 percent to 80 percent of their indoor capacity and 70 percent to 100 percent of outdoor capacity.
Case updates
The DOH reported 11,772 active cases as of Thursday and a total caseload of 2,841,260 since the start of the pandemic. The figure does not include data from two laboratories that did not operate on Dec. 28 and three other laboratories that failed to submit their test results.
Of the total active cases, 5,737 were mild, 577 asymptomatic, 3,315 moderate, 1,771 severe, and 372 critical.
The 6.6-percent positivity rate on Thursday was based on the 30,933 people tested on Dec. 28. Of the 1,623 new infections, 1,582 cases, or 97 percent, were recorded over the last two weeks. Metro Manila accounted for the biggest number (1,063), followed by Calabarzon and Central Luzon.
Omicron-driven?
The 256 reported recoveries brought the total number of survivors of the severe respiratory disease to 2,778,115.
The 133 fatalities increased the death toll to 51,373. Only four, however, occurred this month, while the rest were recorded between July 2020 and November, and reported only on Thursday.
Solante, who is also a member of the government’s Vaccine Expert Panel, said more data was needed to determine whether the increase in the number of cases was Omicron variant-driven. “But I would say this is Delta,” he said.
Solante also agreed with OCTA’s projection that the number of cases may go up as high as 2,000 daily in the coming days.
The numbers followed “the same pattern we’ve been experiencing the past surge,” he said.
Solante said that while Omicron may not cause severe infections like Delta, it could still infect a highly vulnerable population, including the elderly and the immunocompromised. He added that another surge could again overwhelm the country’s healthcare facilities.
By: Tina G. Santos —WITH A REPORT FROM LEILA B. SALAVERRIA
Environmental protection has been made a priority for venues in the Zhangjiakou competition zone at the upcoming 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
The location of the National Ski Jumping Center was carefully selected to avoid the use of underground water for snowmaking, said Wang Jingxian, venue and infrastructure manager of the center in the Games co-host city of Zhangjiakou, Hebei province.
“Before constructing the venue halfway up the mountains in the Guyangshu area, we calculated the volume of surface water that can be collected from the mountains in summer, through means such as rainfall and natural springs. Scientific research data has shown that such water is enough for snowmaking and supporting the operations of the venues,” Wang said.
A reservoir with a capacity of 200,000 cubic meters was built to collect water for the venues in Guyangshu, including the National Ski Jumping Center and the nearby National Cross-Country Skiing Center.
Li Zhenlong, venue and infrastructure manager of the skiing center, said the venue also has five smaller water storage facilities eradicating the need to use underground water and harm the environment during snowmaking.
“Also, we have planted many trees while constructing the courses. Furthermore, the venue is 100 percent powered by wind and solar energy. We have made great efforts to achieve sustainable development,” Li said.
To minimize carbon dioxide emissions, about 700 hydrogen-powered vehicles will be used in the Zhangjiakou competition zone, said Wang Hewu, executive director of the Zhangjiakou Hydrogen and Renewable Energy Research Institute.
The vehicles will be used for transportation and logistics operations during the Games, which will run from Feb 4 to 20.
“The emission of hydrogen-powered vehicles is just pure water so it won’t cause any pollution. Furthermore, the hydrogen fueling the vehicles is produced with wind power so the whole process is green,” Wang said.
A hydrogen-powered bus can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 11.8 metric tons over 10,000 kilometers. Such buses can run smoothly at -20 C, and their safety and reliability have been tested, Wang said.
Currently, there are more than 444 hydrogen-powered buses in operation in Zhangjiakou, covering nine bus routes in the city. They have run about 20 million km and carried more than 62 million passengers, according to the local government.
Zhangjiakou has two hydrogen production plants and eight hydrogen refueling stations, which help guarantee the operation of the hydrogen-powered vehicles, Wang said.
More than 33,400 people in 46 target villages in the provinces of Vientiane, Borikhamxay and Xieng Khuang are expected to benefit from the strengthening of the Lao National Nutrition Strategy with funding from the European Union (EU), Caritas and the Government of Luxembourg.
The project will implement nutrition-related activities until March 2024 in selected areas such as Thoulakhom district of Vientiane province, Xaychamphon district of Borikhamxay province, and Phaxay district in Xieng Khuang province.
The objectives of the project include strengthening the capacity of local partners to contribute to Laos’ nutrition strategy, establishing a sustainable nutrition information management and supply chain (NIMSC), and creating links between local, national and other sectors for policy dialogue and advocacy.
The direct beneficiaries are 33,426 people in target villages, while 690 poor households will receive free water filters. A further 138 filters will be installed at demonstration sites within target areas and more people will benefits from the project directly and indirectly.
The implementing partners include the Association of Rural Mobilization and Improvement (ARMI) and four Provincial Lao Civil Societies Organisations (PLCSOs) selected through a sub-grant proposal.
The four PLCSOs are the Quality of Life Association that works in Xaychamphon district, the Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS that works in Xaychamphon district, the Gender Development Association which works in Thoulakhom district, and the Association for the Preservation of Environment and Development of Community that works in Phaxay district.
The project team will work in coordination with local governmental partners and project stakeholders.
Of the total budget approved by the donors, the EU provided 1,000,000 euros (69.11 percent), while Caritas and the Government of Luxembourg contributed 447,000 euros (30.89 percent).
The total budget for community activities identified in the MOU excludes administration and human resource costs of Caritas Lux and the cost of training project staff, including those of the PLCSOs. This equals 880,667 euros, of which the EU provided 608,629 euros (69.11 percent) and Caritas and the Government of Luxembourg contributed 272,038 euros (30.89 percent).
Caritas Luxembourg has worked in Xieng Khuang province since 2010, primarily in rural development, before expanding to the province of Vientiane and Borikhamxay in 2018.
There are four projects being implemented in the fields of health and nutrition, nutrition governance, agriculture and strengthening livelihoods, and disaster risk reduction.
The main donors of Caritas are the governments of Luxembourg, LuxDev, and the EU.
Document highlights commitment, actions to safeguard world peace and development
China has released its first white paper on export controls to give a full picture of the country’s position, system and practices in improving export control governance.
The 9,000-word document, China’s Export Controls, was issued on Wednesday by the State Council Information Office.
A statement from the Ministry of Commerce said that the white paper highlighted China’s commitment and actions to safeguard world peace and development as well as national security and international security.
The ministry said China will continue to promote law-based export controls in the future, stepping up efforts to improve supporting regulations for the Export Control Law and accelerating the formulation of a unified export control list.
More efforts will be made to carry out multilateral and bilateral exchanges and cooperation on export controls, widely publicize and implement related laws and policies, rigorously protect the legitimate rights and interests of all market players and create the conditions for fostering a business environment based on market principles, governed by law and meeting international standards.
In the next step, China will also work actively to build a coordinated export control compliance system guided by the government and led by business, the ministry added.
Export control is a common international practice in which a country prohibits or restricts the export of specific items, such as nuclear materials, to fulfill its international obligations, such as nonproliferation, while safeguarding its own national security and interests.
The ministry said that international export control efforts now face a number of challenges, mainly related to the abuse of export control measures and unreasonable discriminatory restrictions, attempts by countries to form small cliques and work against true multilateralism.
The white paper also highlighted the need to strengthen international coordination on export controls.
“China holds that all countries should firmly stand by the international system with the United Nations as the core and the international order based on international law, safeguard the authority of international treaties and mechanisms that uphold true multilateralism, refresh their security perspectives, and adopt a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable outlook on global security,” the ministry said in the statement.
In particular, the ministry said major countries should fulfill their obligations and promote common international security in the field of export controls.
Major countries should not harm the legitimate rights and interests of other nations in the peaceful use of export-controlled items or prevent the peaceful use of scientific and technological achievements and advances to promote development, normal international science and technology exchanges and economic and trade cooperation, and the safe and smooth operation of global industrial and supply chains, said the ministry.
“China believes that in export control, the international community should move forward in a fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory direction, uphold solidarity and cooperation, oppose discriminatory approaches, join hands in tackling global issues and create a brighter future for humanity,” the ministry said.
In October 2020, China promulgated the Export Control Law with detailed stipulations on export-control lists and measures.
Since the 1990s, China has formulated six regulations on export control, covering areas including biological, chemical, missiles and other military items to fulfill certain international obligations.
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