76 countries infected; Hong Kong continues to protest

30 VIETNAMESE CITIZENS RETURNING FROM WUHAN PASSED A 21-DAY QUARANTINE PERIOD

According to the Ministry of Health, on the afternoon of March 2, 30 Vietnamese citizens returning from Wuhan have tested negative for the virus and were discharged after a 21-day quarantine period at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases.

Earlier, on February 10, the 30 citizens, including students, tourists, workers and their family members, who were evacuated from Wuhan (Hubei, China), the epicenter of the coronavirus, to Vietnam on the flight HVN68 landed at Van Don International Airport, Quang Ninh Province.

VIETNAM STOP VISA WAIVER FOR ITALIAN CITIZENS

From 0h on March 3, Vietnam officially suspended the visa exemption for Italian citizens upon entry into Vietnam. According to Deputy Foreign Minister To Anh Dung, this is a temporary solution to prevent the epidemic from spreading into Vietnam, protect people's health and minimize negative impacts on the socio-economy.

QUARANTINE CENTER NEAR TAN SON NHAT AIRPORT READY TO BE USED

On March 2, Colonel Nguyen Van Hoang (Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of the Municipal Military Command) said that this is the city's fourth quarantine center to prevent the spread of coronavirus epidemic, after the center in Cu Chi (300 beds), Nha Be (200 beds) and District 7 (100 beds) come into operation.

Accordingly, the quarantine center at Military School in District 7 and District 12, with 1,000 beds ready to be used and become the largest quarantine center in the city. Currently, flights from South Korea will not land at Tan Son Nhat Airport but land at Can Tho Airport. Can Tho Airport becomes the only airport in the South to receive flights from South Korea.

ALL VIETNAM-CHINA BORDER CROSSINGS REOPEN IN CHINA'S GUANGXI

China’s Guangxi Department of Commerce on February 28th announced that all of the China-Vietnam border crossings in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, reopened thanks to the effective inspection of Covid-19.

Deputy Director of the Guangxi Department of Commerce Liang Yi Guang said that the first batch of 7.1 tons of shrimp from Vietnam entered China through Dong Xing border gate on February 25th. On February 26th, the total volume of goods passing through Dong Xing border gate reached 14,000 tons worth CNY620 million (USD 88.5 million), since this border gate resumed customs clearance service after the long lunar New Year holiday.

STRENGTHENING MARKETS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS

As trade halted across Vietnam-China border amid coronavirus fear, the Department of Industry and Trade of Hanoi has met many domestic distributors, trade centers, supermarkets, logistics businesses to actively participate in purchasing and consuming agricultural products. The Department also proposed the Hanoi People's Committee to allow the organization of weekly fairs to introduce seasonal, local products to buyers.

Regarding promotion activities to expand the market for Vietnam's agricultural products, the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association (Vinafruit) organized a delegation of 9 Vietnamese vegetable and fruit processing businesses to showcase their products at the Fruit Logistica 2020 in Berlin on February. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has proposed to coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to review taxes, fees and measures to reduce costs for businesses during this period.

INDONESIA AND MANY OTHER COUNTRIES CONFIRMED THE FIRST CASES OF CORONAVIRUS

On March 2, the Indonesian president confirmed the first two coronavirus patients, a 64-year-old woman and her 31-year-old daughter who came into contact with a Japanese national who works in Malaysia.

By the morning of March 3, the number of countries infected had risen to 76. Afghanistan, Andorra, Belarus, Luxembourg, Morocco... all have reported their first cases.

As of March 2, the four countries with the highest number of infections and the most increasing cases were China (80,151 cases), South Korea (4,812 cases), Italy (2,036 cases) and Iran (1,501 cases).

HONG KONG CONTINUES TO PROTEST DESPITE THE EPIDEMIC

As covid-19 cases of acute respiratory infections continue to rise in Hong Kong, the administration has urged people to refrain from gathering in crowded places to avoid spreading the disease.

However, on the evening of February 29, a number of protesters used social networks to call for people to gather to commemorate 6-month anniversary of the 31st August incident at the Prince Edward MTR station. Around 6 pm local time, protesters flooded Prince Edward Street, erected barriers outside the Allied Plaza and set fire to block traffic and threw petrol bombs at the police.

THAILAND MOTOGP POSTPONED INDEFINITELY DUE TO VIRUS CONCERNS

On March 2, Thai Deputy PM Anutin Charnvirakul, who is also Public Health Minister, announced that the MotoGP has been postponed indefinitely due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

The event had been planned to take place from March 20-22 in northeastern Thailand. But for now, MotoGP is delayed until further notice. A day earlier, Qatar canceled the season-opening MotoGP scheduled for March 8.

NEARLY 7,000 BEING MONITORED IN NORTH KOREA

Rodong Sinmun, the North Korean official newspaper, said that North Korea has placed an additional 3,900 people under medical monitoring for apparently showing symptoms of the novel coronavirus. Last week, North Korea isolated about 3,000 people in North Pyongan province, bordering China. Thus, the total number of people currently isolated in this country is nearly 7,000.

North Korea has taken relatively swift preventive measures against the new coronavirus by tightening its border with China and doubling the quarantine period to 30 days against those coming from foreign countries.

THE FIRST TEMPORARY HOSPITAL IN WUHAN COMPLETED ITS THE MISSION

The Qiaokou District Field Hospital (Wuhan) suspended operation as its last patients were discharged on March 1. From March 2, the hospital officially closed and no more patients were admitted. This is the first temporary hospital in Wuhan to close after completing its mission.

China National Health Commission spokesman Mi Feng said the proportion of Chinese patients who recovered from the novel coronavirus and were discharged from hospitals continued to rise in the past week to reach 52.1%. This indicates that the overall situation of epidemic prevention and control continues to improve and the effect of medical treatment is obvious.

My Tống