Lockdown in Hạ Lôi Village to be lifted at midnight, after 21 virus-free days

Hạ Lôi Village in Mê Linh District, one of the main hotspots for COVID-19 in Hà Nội, ended its 28-day lockdown at midnight on May 6.

Mê Linh District authorities announced the decision late Tuesday night, saying the village had not seen any new cases of the disease for the past 21 days after all the villagers test negative for the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

On April 8, Mê Linh District People’s Committee locked down the village. Under the decision, more than 2,900 households with more than 10,800 people in the village were quarantined at home.

Three out of the 13 COVID-19 patients from Hạ Lôi Village have recovered from the disease.

During the lockdown, all residents who wished to go out had to obtain written approval while others were only allowed to leave their houses for essential purposes and travel within the village. Village officials also took on the role of delivering food and groceries to residents.

Đặng Văn Cường, a resident, said the villagers had not lacked anything during the lockdown, with a stable supply from donors and Government provisions.

“Hạ Lôi has about 100ha of flower fields that have been neglected during the lockdown so economic losses are unavoidable, but people here have accepted the losses in order to control the COVID-19 outbreak,” said Tạ Quang Thái, chairman of Mê Linh Commune.

The district has completed detailed plans to get economic activities in Hạ Lôi back on track, while ensuring preventive measures are strictly followed after the lockdown ends, Chairman of the Mê Linh District People’s Committee Đoàn Văn Trọng said in a Tuesday meeting.

In the past five days, the district found six suspected COVID-19 cases in Hạ Lôi, and all of them were promptly quarantined in Bắc Thăng Long Hospital before their test results returned negative, he added.

Đoàn Văn Trọng said the district was listed as a high-risk area and would maintain strict social distancing.

After the lockdown ends, 74 monitoring groups will be checking on the health of people every day, while advising on preventive measures and quickly detecting any suspected cases.

Eldest patient and 10 other coronavirus cases make full recovery

Eleven more patients being treated at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi City have been declared free of Covid-19, including the 161st  case, an 88-year-old woman in Hung Yen Province who was one of the country’s five critically ill cases placed on a ventilator.

Meanwhile, two cases, tagged as the 74th and 137th cases, who had tested positive for the virus again after being discharged from hospital, tested negative four times, the hospital stated on May 5.

The 147th, 163rd, 201st, 225th, 233rd, 245th, 255th and 267th cases were among the recoveries as well, the local media reported.

As of this morning, May 5, the country’s total number of recovered coronavirus cases stood at 132, while Vietnam reported no new Covid-19 infections in the community for 19 consecutive days.

Over 10,000 jobs generated despite Covid-19

 

Some 10,500 people have found a job through a campaign aimed at reducing unemployment during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the campaign organizer.

The campaign attracted over 960 firms, including SieuViet, Vietnamworks and FreelancerViet, between April 13 and 30. Some 17,290 other candidates are still waiting for job interviews.

The Hanoi chapter of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, the Hanoi Students Association, the Hanoi Youth Federation, Global Shapers Hanoi and Global Shapers HCMC in collaboration with Canavi, Accesstrade and G.A.P Institute, which ran the campaign, targeted students and young people affected by Covid-19.

Many of these people lost their jobs when thousands of firms were forced to suspend operations to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, noted the organizer, adding that the campaign would help connect the unemployed in Hanoi and HCMC with recruiters.

In the second phase of the campaign, set to take place from May 4 to 31, the Hanoi chapter of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union will cooperate with Canavi to organize workshops at various major universities in Hanoi.

These workshops are aimed at providing job counseling and matching services to fresh graduates.