Vietnam has 75% of patients discharged from hospital, 3 consecutive days without recording new cases
The National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control said that as of 6 a.m. on April 19, Vietnam continued to record no new COVID-19 cases, marking 3 days without new cases.
On April 18, three more foreign patients were announced to be cured, including: Patient No. 97 at Can Gio Hospital, and two patients No. 151 and 207 at Cu Chi Field Hospital.
Thus, the number of COVID-19 patients announced to be cured in Vietnam has increased to 201/268 people, accounting for 75%. The whole country currently has 67/268 patients being treated at 11 medical facilities, so far there have been 14 cases with 1 negative test result for SARS-CoV-2 virus and 6 cases with 2 negative test results for SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Khanh Hoa prepares conditions to receive 1,220 citizens returning home
On April 18, the People's Committee of Khanh Hoa province said that, implementing the plan of Military Region 5, the locality is preparing conditions to receive about 1,220 Vietnamese citizens returning from countries and territories with COVID-19 epidemics for medical quarantine.
These citizens are expected to be quarantined at 6 locations, including the Nha Trang City Military Command Training Ground, the National Defense and Security Education Center of the Information Officer School, the Provincial Border Guard Command Training Center, Battalion 87 of Division PK377...
Number of COVID-19 infections in Türkiye surpasses Iran
On April 18, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said the number of COVID-19 infections in the country had reached 82,329, surpassing Iran and becoming the country with the highest total number of new coronavirus infections (SARS-CoV-2) in the Middle East.
With 3,783 new infections in the past 24 hours, Türkiye has almost caught up with China, where the outbreak first occurred in the world.
Asia has many positive developments
The epidemic has shown signs of improvement in South Korea, Iran, Thailand and Malaysia. Iran, the epidemic hotspot in the Middle East, said on April 18 that in the past 24 hours, the country recorded only 73 more deaths from COVID-19, bringing the total number of deaths to 5,031. This is the lowest number of deaths in Iran in many days.
On April 18, South Korea reported 18 new cases of SARS-CoV-2, the lowest number of new cases per day in two months. Over the past five days, South Korea has recorded consecutive new cases, each day remaining below 30.
Thailand has confirmed 33 more cases, bringing the total number of cases in the Southeast Asian country to 2,733. The Thai Ministry of Public Health said the country's COVID-19 death rate is 1.7%, four times lower than the global average, while the recovery rate is 62.5%.
Malaysia also announced 54 new cases on April 18 - the lowest daily increase in the country since the government imposed lockdown and social distancing on March 18. The number of COVID-19 patients in Malaysia is now 5,305 and 88 deaths.
However, on the other hand, on the same day, Singapore's Ministry of Health confirmed 942 more COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, a record high daily increase in the Southeast Asian country, thereby bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 5,992.
Total COVID-19 deaths in Europe surpass 100,000
According to data released by the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 6:00 p.m. on April 18, the COVID-19 acute respiratory disease has claimed the lives of more than 100,000 people in Europe, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the total number of deaths worldwide. Specifically, with 100,501 deaths out of a total of 1,136,672 SARS-CoV-2 infections, Europe has become the continent most severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, a disease that has so far killed 157,163 people worldwide.
Yesterday, the UK recorded 5,525 new cases and 888 deaths due to the Covid-19 epidemic. Due to the complicated developments of the epidemic, Queen Elizabeth II has officially requested to cancel special events at the celebration of her 94th birthday, scheduled for April 21, as well as not having a cannon salute.
Spain's COVID-19 death toll has surpassed 20,000, with the country's health ministry reporting 565 new deaths on April 18, down slightly from 585 on April 17.
France on April 18 recorded 642 more deaths from the COVID-19 acute respiratory infection in hospitals and infirmaries in the past 24 hours. This figure represents a new decrease in the total number of patients who died from the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in hospitals and intensive care centers.
Spain extends country's lockdown until May 9
In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced that the nationwide lockdown will be extended until May 9, as the southwestern European country is one of the countries most severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, the country has recorded 191,726 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection, including 20,043 deaths.
Spain has been under a nationwide lockdown since March 14 and it is likely to continue.
Russia records record number of SARS-CoV-2 infections in one day
The Russian Federal COVID-19 Prevention and Control Committee said that as of noon on April 18, the country had recorded 4,785 new cases of COVID-19 in 79 federal subjects (the number a day before was 4,070 people), bringing the total number of people infected with this dangerous disease to 36,793. This is the highest number of new infections in a day in Russia so far.
Also during this period, Russia recorded 40 more deaths, bringing the total number of deaths from COVID-19 to 313.
Moscow - Russia monitors quarantine enforcement with traffic cameras
In the face of the complicated developments of the COVID-19 epidemic, the Russian capital Moscow has used traffic cameras to monitor the implementation of the quarantine regime. Accordingly, from April 22, residents of the capital Moscow and Moscow Oblast can only use public transport using Troika, Strelka, monthly tickets and social cards. The number of these tickets must be declared in the QR code electronic pass and people must declare at least 5 hours before departure. If the ticket number is not declared in the QR pass, users will not be able to enter the subway station or board public transport.
Car owners must also declare the vehicle number on the electronic pass, otherwise the vehicle will be considered a violation and the owner will be fined. Traffic police and the city's traffic camera system will be used to monitor compliance.
France tests quarantining COVID-19 patients in hotels
The experimental system for isolating COVID-19 patients in hotels, created with the support of the Accor group, aims to break the chains of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection. Called "Covisan", the system is for patients whose health condition is stable and not yet at the level of hospitalization.
According to Mr. Sébastien Bazin, CEO of Accor, the group has mobilized 3 hotels located near 4 hospitals. And since April 15, the Paris Hospital Network (AP-HP) has deployed a monitoring system from the 4 hospitals above. AP-HP has also mobilized the participation of the Red Cross and the family clinic system so that family doctors can include their patients in the project target list. Mr. Martin Hirsch, CEO of AP-HP, said the "Covisan" project is part of the plan to lift the national lockdown and prevent a second wave of the epidemic.
Covid-19 pandemic in the Americas continues to escalate, US records nearly 1,900 more deaths
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be complicated in the US, with 1,891 new deaths recorded in the past 24 hours, bringing the number of deaths due to this dangerous disease to 38,644 as of April 18.
On April 18, the Mexican Ministry of Health announced that in the past 24 hours, the country recorded 622 new cases of COVID-19 and 104 new deaths, bringing the total number of cases and deaths to 7,497 and 650, respectively, while there are 12,369 people suspected of being infected.
The most worrying situation is in Ecuador when yesterday, the country recorded 456 deaths due to the new coronavirus, an increase of 35 cases compared to 24 hours earlier. The total number of cases of acute respiratory infection COVID-19 has reached 9,022 people. This is truly an overload for a somewhat weak health system when up to now, Ecuadorian health officials have only conducted 30,922 tests.
Canada-US extend border travel restrictions until May 20
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on April 18 that Canada and the United States will extend border travel restrictions until May 20. The border between the United States and Canada has been closed to non-essential travel since the night of March 20 (local time) and was originally scheduled to remain in effect until April 20. However, the supply chain of essential goods such as food, fuel, medicine and other services between the two countries has not been disrupted. Flights between the two countries continue, albeit with restrictions.
US tests drug remdesivir effective on monkeys and humans with COVID-19
Remdesivir is one of the first experimental drugs in the treatment regimen for COVID-19 patients and has shown remarkable initial results. American scientists announced on April 17 that the experimental antiviral drug remdesivir has shown effectiveness in treating acute respiratory infections COVID-19 after small-scale testing on monkeys.
Remdesivir has also been used to treat 125 COVID-19 patients in Chicago, 113 of whom had severe symptoms. Most of the severely ill patients treated with remdesivir were discharged within six days, said Kathleen Mullane, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Chicago.
