Vietnam confirmed no fresh COVID-19 cases as of 6:00 pm on June 20, marking 65 straight days without community transmission in the country, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

Vietnam confirmed no fresh COVID-19 cases as of 6:00 pm on June 20, marking 65 straight days without community transmission in the country, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

Of the 349 cases recorded in Vietnam so far, 209 were imported and quarantined upon arrival.

Some 10,500 people who had close contact with COVID-19 patients and came from pandemic-hit areas are under medical monitoring or quarantine.

On the day, a patient was discharged from the general hospital of the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau. After this move, the 37-year-old man will undergo quarantine for 14 days.

Up to 327 patients or 93.7 percent of the total cases have recovered, including 49 foreign nationals. The remaining foreign patient – a British pilot – is being treated at Cho Ray Hospital in HCM City.

Among the active patients, two have tested negative for the coronavirus once while four negative at least twice.

Vietnam clear of COVID-19 community infections for 65 straight days

Vietnam had been clear of community infections for 65 straight days, with no fresh COVID-19 cases reported on June 20 morning, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

The national tally stays at 349, including 209 imported cases that were quarantined upon arrival.

A total of 10,500 people in close contact with infected people or returning from pandemic-hit countries are under medical monitoring or quarantine, including 162 at hospitals, 9,387 at State-designated facilities, and 952 at home.

Up to 326 patients have recovered, accounting for 93.4 percent of the total cases while the remaining 23 are being treated at provincial and central hospitals and in stable health condition.

Among the active patients, four have tested negative for the coronavirus at least twice.

Vietnam records seven more imported cases on June 19

Vietnam recorded seven more COVID-19 cases, all imported, bringing the total to 349 as of 6pm on June 19.

According to the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control, all the new patients returned from Europe on flight VN2 on June 6.

Immediately after landing in Vietnam, they were put into quarantine at a college in Hanoi. Tests on June 18 showed the seven were positive for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

All of them are being treated at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases No. 2 in Dong Anh, Hanoi.

As many as 326 out of total 349 cases have been given the all-clear, accounting for 93.4 percent, and there is no fatality. Among the remaining 23 patients, four tested positive at least twice.

Vietnam has gone through 64 consecutive days without local transmission.

At present, 6,176 people who had close contact with patients or returned from pandemic-hit areas are under quarantine. Of whom, 89 are in hospitals, 5,734 in other facilities and 353 at home and place of residence.

Thai Health Minister volunteers for COVID-19 vaccine test

Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has volunteered to be the first person to be injected with an experimental Thai-made COVID-19 vaccine, according to Thai Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob.

The Bangkok Post quoted Saksayam as saying that Anutin informed him at a recent meeting of the Centre for COIVD-19 Situation Administration that the development of a Covid-19 vaccine by Thai researchers is making tremendous progress.

Monkeys have already received the trial vaccine and in the next step, it will be injected into humans. Anutin was the first volunteer, Saksayam said.

When Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha asked in the meeting for volunteers, Anutin proposed himself as the first in Thailand to receive the jab, he added.

Thai National Vaccine Institute Director Nakorn Premsri last month said an mRNA-type of vaccine developed by Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Medicine had been tested in monkeys from May 23.

Nearly 310 Vietnamese citizens return home from Angola

A Vietnam Airlines flight has brought 309 Vietnamese citizens home from Angola thanks to joint efforts by Vietnamese and Canadian agencies.

Passengers on the flight included children, the elderly, sick people, pregnant women, workers with expired visas and contracts.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Angola sent officers to the airport to assist citizens in making check-in procedures and solve arising issues.

Immediately after the flight landed in Van Don, the northeastern province of Quang Ninh, all passengers and crew members were given health check and quarantined in line with regulations.

Earlier, the flight brought face masks and protective gear as gifts of the Vietnamese government to Angola.

Following instructions of the Prime Minister, Vietnamese agencies will continue to coordinate with representative agencies abroad to arrange more flights to take Vietnamese citizens back home based on citizens’ wish and domestic quarantine capacity.

Tropical diseases hospital receives two drug parcels to fight COVID-19

The National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi received the drugs Amizon and Cycloferon from the Ukrainian-based Farmak JSC and the Russian-based Polysan Scientific & Technological Pharmaceutical Company at a ceremony on June 19 to cure COVID-19-related symptoms.

The ceremony was attended by Counsellor Sergey Tanakov and Trade Counsellor Vyacheslav Kharinov from the Russian Embassy in Vietnam.

According to hospital director Pham Ngoc Thach, on March 21 the Health Ministry issued Decision No 1276/QD-BYT permitting the receipt of 30,000 Amizon tablets valued at 17,460 USD from Farmak

On March 27, the ministry then issued Decision No 1414/QD-BTY approving the hospital’s acquisition of 50,600 Cycloferon tablets and 5,115 Cycloferon ampules which cost some 26,900 USD from Polysan.

Thach said the hospital has used the two drugs in the past to treat measles and influenza.

They help boost the immune system and so are suitable for treating COVID-19, he added.

Amizon is for treating and preventing influenza and respiratory viral infections and is recognised as a safe and effective medicine by doctors in 11 countries.

Cycloferon, meanwhile, is a universal antiviral preparation with direct anti-viral, immune-correcting, and anti-inflammatory activity. It reinforces the body’s non-specific resistance to viral and bacterial infections. The drug is being used by the Commonwealth of Independent States in COVID-19 prevention and control.