Vietnam to start building its largest airport

Tuesday, January 05, 2021, 09:33 GMT+7

HANOI -- Vietnam will start building the first phase of what will become its largest airport
near its economic hub Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday, as it seeks to speed up public
investment to shore up economic growth amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The first phase of the Long Thanh Airport in Dong Nai province will cost $4.66 billion and will
be operational from 2025, the government said in a statement on its website.It will include a 4
km (2.5 mile) runway, a terminal and related facilities capable of serving 25 million passengers
and handling 1.2 million tonnes of cargo a year, it said.“The construction of the airport is an
important step to boost public investment and reduce the adverse impact of the COVID-19
pandemic on the economy,” Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said in the statement.The entire
project, when fully operational, would be able to serve 100 million passengers a year and would
cost $16 billion to build, according to the government.It would become a key transit hub for
international passengers, the government said, adding that the existing Tan Son Nhat Airport
nearby in Ho Chi Minh City, which has been overloaded since 2015, will be used as a domestic
airport.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Health has put forward a proposal to Prime Minister Nguyen
Xuan Phuc on banning incoming flights from countries where a new variant of the
coronavirus that causes COVID-19 was detected.
In the proposal, the Ministry of Health asked for the PM’s direction to the Ministries of Foreign
Affairs, Public Security, Transport, and National Defense, as well as relevant agencies to stop
organizing and restrict the licensing of flights to Vietnam from countries and territories that have
been confirmed with the mutant coronavirus strain, which the World Health Organization (WHO)
announced its identification in the UK on December 18, 2020.The ban is meant to continue to control
and prevent the spread of the pandemic in Vietnam.According to scientists, the mutated coronavirus
may be up to 70 percent more transmissible than the old one.So far, about 35 countries in the world
have recorded patients infected with the new strain, most of whom came from the UK and South
Africa, the first two countries to record the strain, the ministry said.As a result, “more than 40
countries have imposed entry restrictions and border closures, and banned flights to and from the
UK and countries that have identified the new variant of the coronavirus,” the proposal reads, with
Germany, the Netherlands, and Bulgaria being the pioneer

https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210104/vietnams-health-ministry-proposes-banning-
flights-from-countries-with-coronavirus-variant/58627.html

The Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control on Monday said a suspected COVID-19
case has tested negative for the virus after an initial positive test last week.

The case is a 65-year-old man in Binh Chanh District, according to the center’s report.The man
tested positive on New Year’s Eve but he already retested negative twice, the center said on
Monday afternoon.Further tests have been conducted on the man, pending results.His contacts
have been quarantined and tested for safety reasons.A source from the Binh Chanh People’s
Committee told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Monday afternoon that it had received the report on
the suspected case in the morning.The 7A Military Hospital in District 5, where the man had visited,
is in normal operation, with patients and visitors required to declare their health status and those
exhibiting fever symptoms taken to an isolation area..He moved to Hanoi from Sa Pa in a tour
package car before flying to Ho Chi Minh City on December 27.On December 28, he suffered
coughing and a fever so he bought some medications from a drugstore in the vicinity of his house for
self-treatment.He visited a private clinic near his house one day later and was prescribed some
medicines.On December 31, he was admitted to the emergency room of the 7A Military Hospital in
District 5.Doctors suspected him to have caught COVID-19, with such pre-existing conditions as
hypertension and heart failure.

Nguồn https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210104/ho-chi-minh-city-center-for-disease-
control-announces-retest-result-of-suspected-covid19-case/58624.html

Vietnam to buy AstraZeneca vaccine, in talks with other producers

Monday, January 04, 2021, 14:51 GMT+7

HANOI -- Vietnam has agreed to buy 30 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine produced
by AstraZeneca Plc, the government said on Monday, adding that authorities are also
seeking to purchase vaccines from other sources, including Pfizer Inc.

The Southeast Asian country has previously agreed to get a Russian vaccine though also said it
would not rush to secure vaccine deals, citing the potential for high financial costs and after
managing to contain its coronavirus outbreaks to only 1,494 cases, with 35 deaths.The AstraZeneca
and Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine is cheaper than some others and can be stored at fridge
temperature, which makes it easier to transport and use, particularly in developing countries.Vietnam
is also in talks to purchase vaccines from Pfizer Inc, Russia’s Sputnik V and China, the deputy
minister said..The country has conducted human trials of its ‘Nano Covax’ vaccine and a second
home-grown vaccine is expected to start undergoing human trials this month.Vietnam in August said
it had signed up for 50 million-150 million doses of the Russian vaccine, though delivery remains
unclear.

Nguồn https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210104/vietnam-to-buy-astrazeneca-vaccine-in-
talks-with-other-producers/58621.html

Conventional motorbike taxi driver attacks Gojek driver over passenger competition in
Saigon

Monday, January 04, 2021, 12:59 GMT+7

Police in Trung My Tay Ward of District 12, Ho Chi Minh City are handling a case where
a Gojek motorbike partner was attacked by a conventional motorbike taxi driver while
picking up a passenger near An Suong Intersection on Saturday.

The attack occurred while Do Viet Tai, 30, from the city’s Hoc Mon District was waiting for a female
passenger, who had booked a trip via the ride-hailing app, at 2398 National Highway 1 at 5:20 pm
on Saturday, according to Tai’s motorcycle camera footage.A middle-aged man standing nearby
chased Tai away, not allowing him to pick up the customer.Although Tai tried to explain it was not
the case that he was stealing the man’s customer as the passenger had ordered him to give her a
ride through the Gojek mobile app in advance, as well as urging the woman to quickly get on his
motorbike, the middle-aged man still insisted on preventing Tai from catching the passenger.When
the passenger was yet to climb on Tai’s motorbike, another man on a motorbike rushed toward the
Gojek driver, yelling at him “I said you go away!”That man then suddenly ran to a nearby motorcycle
repair shop and took a long iron wrench to chase Tai.Tai rode his motorbike away for a short
distance to avoid that man.But when Tai stopped, the man threw a large log directly at Tai’s
head.The female passenger in the incident also elaborated that the first man had offered to give her
a ride before Tai came.When the woman replied that she already booked a Gojek trip, the man
emphasized she would not be able to get on the Gojek motorbike

Nguồn https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210104/conventional-motorbike-taxi-driver-
attacks-gojek-driver-over-passenger-competition-in-saigon/58620.html

Race officials praise modern safety systems for saving Grosjean's life

Monday, November 30, 2020, 08:35 GMT+7

Race officials praised the modern safety systems developed for Formula One racing on
Sunday after Romain Grosjean survived a high-speed crash and fireball blaze on the
opening lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Safety and official medical car driver Alan van der Merwe was on the scene within seconds as he
followed the field after the start of the race and along with chief medical officer Dr Ian Roberts they
battled the blaze to save Grosjean's life."It's a miracle that he's alive," said 1996 world champion
Briton Damon Hill, who was Ayrton Senna's team-mate at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix when the
Brazilian champion was killed.Van der Merwe said: "It was a big surprise for us as well, we've never
seen that much fire in 12 years."Romain started to get out of the car himself which was pretty
amazing after an accident like that. It just goes to show all the systems we've developed worked
hand in hand -- the halos, the barriers, the seatbelts, everything all worked as it should."Without just
one of those things, it could have been a very different outcome" Grosjean lost control of his Haas
car after clipping the front left wheel of Daniil Kvyat's Alpha Tauri, having skewed right in the intense
battle positions at Turn Three on the opening lap.

https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/sports/20201130/race-officials-praise-modern-safety-systems-for-
saving-grosjean-s-life/58028.html

Tyson fights to draw with Jones Jr. in exhibition

Sunday, November 29, 2020, 16:03 GMT+7

Mike Tyson showed age has not robbed him of his power as the former heavyweight
champion, in his long-awaited return to the ring, dominated Roy Jones Jr. in an exhibition
fight on Saturday in Los Angeles that was surprisingly ruled a draw.

I’m happy I got this under my belt to keep doing this and go further.”Tyson, 15 years removed from
his ignominious defeat to Irishman Kevin McBride in the last professional fight of his career, came
out firing and was in control of the bout the entire way.Jones Jr, 51, was the more visibly fatigued of
the two fighters but managed to pick up the pace in the later rounds enough to earn the win on one
scorecard and a draw on the other while Tyson took the third scorecard. While there were no
ringside judges to score the eight-round contest between two of boxing’s all-time greats, both over
50, and no official winner, the World Boxing Council formed a set of judges that remotely scored the
bout.“I’m used to doing it for three minutes,” 54-year-old Tyson said of the shorter rounds

https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/sports/20201129/tyson-fights-to-draw-with-jones-jr-in-
exhibition/58022.html