Read what is in the news today:

Society

-- Vietnam’s 18th novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patient, who is being treated in the northern province of Ninh Binh, has tested negative for the virus twice and is eligible to be declared free of the virus. Four other cases in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Da Nang have also had their test results return negative for the first time, according to local health departments.

-- Local authorities in Phuoc Nam Commune, Thuan Nam District, located in the south-central province of Ninh Thuan, on Wednesday banned all mass gatherings to prevent spreading COVID-19 after a local man returning from a mosque event in Malaysia had contracted the viral disease.

-- About 280 retired doctors and nurses and 700 medical students have volunteered to participate in the battle against COVID-19 in Hanoi as of Wednesday afternoon.

-- The United States is suspending all routine immigrant and non-immigrant visa services as of Wednesday in most countries worldwide, including Vietnam, due to COVID-19, according to Reuters.

Business

-- The Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation said it suffered a decrease of 40 percent, or 14,599 flights, in the total flight operating volume in February compared to the same period last year.

-- Streaming services and online entertainment platforms gain from offering more products in Vietnam during the COVID-19 epidemic as people are confined to their homes, according to a survey conducted by market research company Q&Me.

-- As many as 117 hotels and accommodation establishments across Vietnam have voluntarily registered to provide pay-to-stay COVID-19 quarantine rooms, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism reported on Wednesday.

Education

-- Hanoi chairman Nguyen Duc Chung decided at a meeting of the city’s steering committee for COVID-19 prevention on Wednesday to extend the school closure in the Vietnamese capital for one more week through April 5. Earlier, all kindergarten, elementary, middle school, vocational school, university and college students in Hanoi were allowed to stay home through March 29, and high school students until March 23.

World News

-- The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has now infected over 200,000 people and caused more than 8,500 deaths in 164 nations, according to Reuters.

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