Vietnam has no new COVID-19 cases for 6 consecutive days, WHO highly appreciates Vietnam
On the morning of April 22, the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control announced that no new cases of COVID-19 were recorded. Thus, for 6 consecutive days, Vietnam has had no new cases.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in Vietnam is 268 and so far 216 cases have been declared cured. It is expected that on April 22, 6 more patients will be declared cured. Of the 52 cases being treated, 12 have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 once, and 8 have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 twice.
Regarding Vietnam's COVID-19 response, the WHO Western Pacific Director commented: "Vietnam has shown the world effective, decisive and consistent leadership at many levels of government, from the Prime Minister, Ministers to localities." According to WHO statistics, Vietnam is the country with the second lowest rate of COVID-19 cases per total population in the Western Pacific region, with a rate of 3 cases per 1,000,000 people.
Vietnam donates medical equipment to Laos to fight COVID-19
On the afternoon of April 21, in Hanoi, the Central Committee of the Vietnam-Laos Friendship Association mobilized association organizations, members, and philanthropists to support Lao doctors, nurses, and people with 500 sets of medical protective clothing; 18,500 masks, including 17,000 medical masks and 1,000 antibacterial cloth masks.
Hai Phong allows 9th and 12th grade students to return to school from April 23
Hai Phong City People's Committee allows junior high school students for grade 9 and high school students for grade 12 to return to school from April 23, 2020; preschool children, primary school students, junior high school students (grades 6, 7, 8) and high school students (grades 10, 11) to return to school from April 27.
Quang Ninh proactively manufactures equipment to prevent and fight COVID-19
These initiatives and manufacturing not only reduce the pressure on investment from the budget but also help units and localities proactively equip themselves with on-site equipment to prevent and fight the COVID-19 epidemic. Foreign Trade University (Quang Ninh campus), its lecturers and students have also manufactured hundreds of splash shields to prevent and fight COVID-19. Recently, on April 17, the school donated 700 splash shield products to the People's Committee of Uong Bi city.
The College of Industry and Construction (Uong Bi) has researched, invented, and successfully installed dozens of disinfectant sprayers, body temperature measuring devices, and full-body disinfection chambers. Some coal production units under the Vietnam National Coal - Mineral Industries Group have also joined hands to design full-body disinfection chambers to serve the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic in their units.
Covid-19 pandemic developments in Southeast Asia
Indonesia's Ministry of Health said on April 21 that the country had recorded 375 more cases of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection causing COVID-19 acute respiratory disease, bringing the total number of cases in this Southeast Asian country to 7,135. On April 21, President Joko Widodo decided to ban everyone from returning to their hometowns during the Idul Fitri fasting holiday to prevent the spread of the disease.
Faced with the complicated developments of the COVID-19 epidemic in Singapore, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has decided to extend the social distancing period by 4 weeks, until June 1. The Singapore Ministry of Health said that the number of new infections recorded on April 21 was 1,111, bringing the total number of infections in the island nation to 9,125. Most of the new infections were in foreign worker dormitories and many of the infected cases showed no symptoms. Meanwhile, the number of cross-infections in the community of unknown origin remained above 20 cases/day after 2 weeks of social distancing.
On the same day, the Philippine Ministry of Health recorded nine more deaths from the COVID-19 acute respiratory disease, bringing the total number of deaths in the country to 437. Meanwhile, the Philippines had 140 more cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 6,599.
In addition, on April 21, Thailand continued to record positive signs in the fight against the COVID-19 acute respiratory infection. Accordingly, in the past 14 days, 36/77 provinces and cities across the country had no new infections. The Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) of the Thai Government said: on April 21, the country recorded 1 more death and 19 infections, the lowest daily level in more than a month.
Thailand automatically extends visas for foreigners until July 31
The Thai government on April 21 approved the automatic extension of visas for foreigners for another three months in an effort to prevent long queues at immigration centers and prevent the spread of the COVID-19 acute respiratory disease. Foreigners whose visas expired from March 26 will be allowed to stay in the country until July 31 without having to apply for an extension, a government spokesman said.
The number of COVID-19 cases in Türkiye continues to increase sharply
On April 21, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan announced that the COVID-19 epidemic in Türkiye is beginning to peak and that Turkey's goal is to return to normal life after the end of Ramadan at the end of May. Previously, President Erdogan announced that a four-day lockdown would be imposed in 31 cities from April 23.
The number of new coronavirus infections in the country has increased by 4,611 in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases to 95,591. The death toll now stands at 2,259 after 119 more deaths were recorded on April 21.
Israel imposes nationwide lockdown on Independence Day
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on April 21 ordered a lockdown of the country during Independence Day, which falls on April 28. The lockdown will affect Israel's national Memorial Day, as cemeteries will be closed and relatives of those killed in wars will not be able to visit graves.
During the lockdown, people will be banned from moving between cities and will only be allowed to leave their homes to shop for essential items or go to work.
Some countries are gradually easing restrictions.
Governments in Spain, Austria, Cyprus, Australia and several others are beginning to gradually ease COVID-19 restrictions and restart their economies.
On April 21, the Madrid city government (Spain) confirmed that the "BiciMAD" bike-sharing system will reopen for public use on April 22. Half of the bikes will be put into use on the morning of April 22, while the rest will be put into operation after being disinfected. Users will be required to wear gloves and ensure hygiene and social distancing recommendations from health officials. On the same day, the Pamplona city government in Spain announced the cancellation of the famous San Fermin bullfighting festival due to the COVID-19 epidemic.
In Cyprus, the government has taken the first steps to ease COVID-19 restrictions and restart the economy. Restrictions, including an evening curfew, are scheduled to remain in effect until April 30.
On April 21, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced that the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic will be eased on May 15, allowing restaurants and cafes to open and religious services to resume.
In Asia, Iraq has allowed some businesses to reopen and eased a month-long curfew to curb the spread of COVID-19. Government offices can maintain up to 25% of their staff, while some shops can reopen. Crowded places such as shopping malls, parks, mosques and schools will remain closed. The curfew will be relaxed until May 22.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on the same day that the country was on the road to recovery with the number of new infections virtually zero. He said hospitals would resume some non-urgent surgeries and schools would reopen.
EU calls for special conference to support tourism industry
The tourism sector, which accounts for more than 10% of the EU's GDP and 12% of jobs, has been brought to a standstill by travel restrictions and lockdowns imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19. On April 21, the European Union's Internal Market Commissioner, Thierry Breton, called for a special summit to discuss measures to support the European tourism industry to overcome the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in September or October 2020.
Switzerland to introduce COVID-19 vaccine in October
Martin Bachmann, head of immunology at the University of Bern, said there is a chance of a successful vaccine and hopes to be the first facility to produce a vaccine against COVID-19.
A team of researchers at the University of Bern (Switzerland) hopes to be the first to produce a vaccine against the dangerous COVID-19 disease and have it in the vaccination program by October. This vaccine takes a different approach by using so-called virus-like particles, which are not infectious - unlike when using a virus - and provide a good immune response.
Russia records COVID-19 cases exceeding 52,000 people
Russia's COVID-19 crisis response center said on April 21 that the country had recorded 5,642 new cases of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), bringing the total number of infections nationwide to 52,763. Moscow remains the locality with the highest number of infections in one day, with 3,083 cases.
Anti-lockdown protests erupt across the US
The wave of demands to reopen the economy and protests against stay-at-home orders is still erupting in many states across the US despite the country having 792,938 cases of COVID-19, including more than 42,000 deaths.
Currently, in the US, about 22 million people have lost their jobs because of business activities being suspended due to the pandemic. Therefore, many people want to lift the blockade to return to work. Protests have taken place in many places. Especially in New York, the epicenter of the US, there were also protests, but they were by medical staff taking to the streets to demand better protective conditions when fighting the epidemic.
Mexico declares COVID-19 pandemic
On April 21, the Mexican government announced that the COVID-19 epidemic had reached pandemic level in the country. Speaking to the press, health authorities predicted that the peak of the epidemic in Mexico would take place from May 8-10 and could end the first cycle of the epidemic, when 95% of cases were identified by June 25.
To prevent the spread of the disease, authorities have called on people to strictly follow disease prevention recommendations, stay home, avoid going out when not necessary and practice social distancing until May 30. Up to now, Mexico has recorded 8,772 cases of COVID-19, including 712 deaths.
