Two more COVID-19 test kits from Vietnam
According to Mr. Nguyen Minh Tuan, Director of the Department of Medical Equipment and Construction, Ministry of Health, the biological product produced in Vietnam has just been licensed by the Ministry of Health to be used to test for Covid-19 using the RT - LAMP and Realtime PCR methods, detecting the specific N gene region of the SARS-CoV-2 virus from the patient's throat swab sample. Both of these new test kits are used for rapid screening of cases infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The Ministry of Health said that with the addition of these two kits, Vietnam has four kits used to diagnose Covid-19 (the previous two kits were put into use since early March 2020). All four kits produced in Vietnam have been quality tested and meet the requirements for disease detection in terms of sensitivity and specificity.
As of May 21, Vietnam has gone 35 days without recording any new infections in the community. The number of Covid-19 patients in Vietnam is currently at 324, 264 have recovered, and 60 are continuing treatment.
More than 5 million Covid-19 infections worldwide
According to data from the website worldometers.info, as of the morning of May 21, the total number of Covid-19 infections worldwide was 5,085,504, with more than 329,000 deaths and 2,018,000 people cured. It is worth noting that WHO recorded 106,000 infections in 24 hours, a record high number in a day since the outbreak, with two-thirds of these infections recorded in just four countries: the US, Russia, Brazil and India.
The US remains the country with the highest number of deaths, with more than 94,779, followed by the UK with 35,704 and Italy with 32,330.
On May 20, Egypt announced 745 new cases of coronavirus, marking a record daily increase since the first case was detected in mid-February, bringing the total number of cases in the North African country to 14,229. The number of new infections also continued to rise in two neighboring North African countries, Algeria and Morocco.
On the same day, the World Health Organization (WHO) also expressed concern about the increasing number of cases of SARS-CoV-2 virus causing Covid-19 acute respiratory disease in poor countries, in the context that many rich countries have begun to ease lockdowns.
Indonesia introduces a series of products to prevent COVID-19 epidemic
On May 20, Indonesian President Joko Widodo introduced a series of research, technologies and products used to speed up the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. A total of 55 products, including rapid SARS-CoV-2 virus testing kits using PCR technology, have been researched, developed and are ready for mass production by domestic organizations and universities.
The list also includes emergency ventilators, herbal immunomodulators, research into plasma transfusions from recovered patients to treat people infected with Covid-19, a mobile laboratory that meets biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) standards, a system that uses artificial intelligence to detect Covid-19, the Raisa medical assistant robot, and masks with PAPR air purifiers...
Japan and Singapore consider steps to lift lockdowns
As the epidemic situation in the Kansai region has stabilized, the Japanese Government is considering lifting the state of emergency in three provinces in this region if no new outbreaks appear.
One of the key criteria set by the Japanese government to lift the state of emergency in a local area is that the rate of new infections per 100,000 people remains at a maximum of 0.5 for 7 consecutive days. Up to now, 3 prefectures in the Kansai region, Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo, have met the criteria. Meanwhile, the capital Tokyo and neighboring Kanagawa prefecture have not met the above criteria even though the number of new infections is decreasing.
In Singapore, the lockdown measures to deal with the Covid-19 epidemic currently being applied in the country will officially end on June 1 and the island nation will gradually restart the economy in 3 phases over the next few months.
Specifically, starting from June 2, Singapore will implement phase 1 in a very cautious manner, many restrictions will continue to be applied as at present. This phase is expected to last at least 4 weeks.
India to reopen domestic commercial flights
On May 20, Indian Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri announced: Domestic commercial flights in the country will resume from May 25. The ministry will soon announce new standard operating procedures. Airports across the country have also begun to introduce new measures to protect travelers from the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The ministry also noted that when operations resume, airports will operate on a phased, restricted schedule, possibly at 30% capacity to ensure necessary social distancing.
Cambodia lifts entry ban on tourists from 6 countries
Cambodia's Ministry of Health said on May 20 that it had lifted an entry ban on visitors from Italy, Iran, Germany, Spain, France and the United States that had been imposed to prevent the spread of the disease.
However, foreign visitors will still need to have a certificate confirming they are free of SARS-CoV-2 within 72 hours before entering the country and must prove they have health insurance worth 50,000 USD for the duration of their stay in Cambodia. They will also have to quarantine for 14 days after entering the country in a government-designated area and be tested for the virus.
EU countries at odds over reopening borders
During an online meeting on May 20, tourism ministers in the European Union (EU) discussed a roadmap to gradually reopen borders in the summer as proposed by the European Commission (EC). However, the parties did not reach a consensus on this issue.
Gari Capelli, Minister of Tourism of Croatia, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said that countries need to responsibly reopen their borders by signing bilateral agreements, especially between countries with similar epidemic levels, to ensure that the epidemic does not break out again. For countries with dangerous developments of the epidemic, more caution is needed and borders should be reopened after other countries.
Currently, countries in the Schengen area are applying inconsistent border opening measures.
France also called for better coordination between countries. Paris aims to reopen internal EU borders from June 15, but must ensure that different speeds of opening are avoided. Germany, meanwhile, wants to bring together 11 southern EU countries to discuss how to coordinate the reopening of borders.
Germany closes airport due to drop in passenger numbers
The Ministry of Finance of Berlin (Germany) announced that Tegel Airport in the capital may close from June 15 to save costs, in the context of a decrease in the number of passengers due to the epidemic.
In terms of passenger traffic, Tegel Airport is the 4th largest airport in Germany, after Frankfurt/Main, Munich and Düsseldorf. In 2019, Tegel Airport welcomed about 24 million passengers. However, during the current pandemic, the number of passengers has decreased sharply and this airport only welcomes about 2,000 passengers/day.
Cambridge University (UK) decided to teach online in the new school year
The UK's Cambridge University will maintain online teaching and learning until at least the summer of 2021 due to the pandemic. This is the first university in the UK to plan for the new academic year starting next September.
Cambridge University’s decision comes amid a debate in the UK over whether it is safe to send students back to school. Ministers plan to partially reopen primary schools from 1 June, but unions and local councils are concerned about the safety of pupils.
France closes 3 beaches because tourists violate anti-epidemic regulations
Last week, as France began easing its coronavirus restrictions, hundreds of beaches were allowed to reopen for swimming, jogging and fishing, but most remained closed to picnics due to the need to comply with social distancing regulations to avoid the risk of a second wave of infections.
However, the Morbihan department (southwest France) said beaches in Damgan, Billiers and Erdeven would have to close from the evening of May 20 due to "unacceptable behavior" of people last weekend.
Authorities said they had asked the locality to close the beach ahead of the May 21 holiday, which is expected to draw large numbers of visitors to the scenic Pacific coast.
