COVID-19: Vietnam marked new daily infections and deaths record

• Saturday, August 21, 2021, Vietnam confirmed a total of 13,417 Covid-19 cases, the highest tally since the country detected its first coronavirus infections. On Sunday, the country recorded 737 coronavirus-related deaths, the highest fatality number on any given single day.

• Quick take: In total, Vietnam’s Covid-19 confirmed cases surpassed 340,000 with over 8,000 deaths. Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and other southern provinces remain the country’s largest coronavirus hotspots. As of now, only around 1.7 percent of the country’s population have been fully vaccinated.

• Panic buying has been seen in HCMC as a result of the local authorities’ decision to impose a stringent lockdown, prohibiting residents from leaving their homes, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, chairman of the city’s People’s Committee, Nguyen Thanh Phong, was removed from his position by the Communist Party, possibly on account of his poor handling of Covid-19.

• Starting this Monday, HCMC will deploy military troops to enforce the strict stay-at-home order for two weeks amid spiralling Covid-19 infections and deaths in the city, Reuters reports. “We are asking people to stay where they are, not to go outside. Each home, company, factory should be an antivirus fort,” said Pham Duc Hai, deputy head of the city’s coronavirus authority.

• HCMC official: The city records an average of 240 coronavirus-related deaths every 24 hours. Meanwhile, there are “hundreds of acutely-ill patients and thousands of people wishing to flee the city,” he added.

• Dr. Kidong Park, World Health Organization Representative in Vietnam: “[Vietnam’s] current healthcare system is under enormous pressure” due to the surge in Covid-19 cases. “There is still a lot of work to be done while the next few weeks are crucial […] to contain the recent outbreaks,” Dr. Park affirmed.

• Vietnam calls for international support to deal with the pandemic: “We hope that other countries and international organizations would continue to share information, technology, finance, health services, and vaccines so that Vietnam can soon control and fight off this dangerous disease,” said Ms. Le Thi Thu Hang, Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman.

• The Vietnamese government proposed a plan to distribute around 130,000 tons of rice to over 8.6 million Vietnamese people, who face food shortages because of Covid-19 pandemic effects. The food aid will be distributed to 24 provinces and municipalities in the country.

• Covid-19 vaccine’s arrival in Vietnam, from VietnamPlus: “Vietnam received an additional 1,209,400 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on August 19, according to the Vietnam Vaccine JSC (VNVC). This is the ninth batch delivered to Vietnam under the VNVC’s order of 30 million doses with AstraZeneca, which will be handed over to the Ministry of Health at a not-for-profit price.”

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is set to visit Vietnam this Tuesday, human rights issues to be raised

Families of several Vietnamese prisoners of conscience co-wrote an open letter to Vice President Kamala Harris, asking her to pressure Hanoi for the release of their family members.

RFA reports:

• The letter, signed by four prisoners’ wives, informs Harris that many prisoners of conscience are jailed for publicly disagreeing with the government, “which does not happen in a democratic country like the United States.”

• They request the release of their family members “so the old mother may still see her son, the young wife can again cry on her husband’s shoulder, so the two-digit-prison-terms will not take away the life of one man and the livelihood of his whole family. All because they dare to speak the truth, a very normal action in any democratic nation,” the letter said.

• The letter was signed by the wives of Truong Minh Duc, serving 12 years in prison for “attempting to overthrow the government;” Nguyen Nang Tinh, serving 11 years for his Facebook posts critical of the government; Luu Van Vinh, serving 15 years for spreading information about a 2016 toxic chemical spill at the Formosa steel plant; and Tran Duc Thach, an author serving 12 years for his writings that expose the corruption, injustice and human rights abuses of the Vietnamese government.

• According to the California-based Vietnam Human Rights Network, Vietnam currently detains around 300 political prisoners.

The 88 Project, a human rights advocacy project, along with other 12 human rights organizations, also released an open letter to Vice President Harris prior to her visit.

The Vietnamese Magazine reports: