Read what is in the news today!

Society

— The number of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients traced to Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi mounted to 24 on early Monday morning, when Vietnam’s Ministry of Health confirmed six new infections, all of whom are employees at a company that supplies portioned meals to the infirmary. The country now has 194 confirmed cases in total.

— The administration of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are to review and update their COVID-19 prevention and control plans to make sure they are ready even when citywide lockdowns must be imposed to curb the spread of the disease, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc concluded after a teleconference with five centrally managed municipalities — Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, Da Nang, and Can Tho — on Sunday.

— The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Information and Communications said on Sunday it has summoned the owner of the verified Facebook account ‘Nguyen Sin’ for a meeting scheduled for Monday after the man had posted on the social network that “we have had our first death,” implying the false information that Vietnam had reported the first death from COVID-19.

— Four COVID-19 patients in Ho Chi Minh City — Vietnam’s patient No. 64, No. 66, No. 79, and No. 90 — were released from a field hospital in Cu Chi District on Sunday after having fully recovered from the disease and tested negative for the virus multiple times. Twenty-five out of Vietnam’s 194 patients have walked out of the hospital free of the virus to date, with no death reported.

— Northern Vietnam is forecast to continue experiencing rains and occasional thunderstorms and hailstorms this week while the south will be baked in sunny weather with only infrequent rains, according to the National Center for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting.

Business

— The retail prices of petrol in Vietnam plummeted from 3:00 pm Sunday to an 11-year low, making it the sixth consecutive reduction since the beginning of this year. Specifically, the price of biofuel E5-RON92 fell by VND4,100 to VND11,956 ($0.51) per liter at the highest, and that of RON95-III was also down by VND4,252 to VND12,560 ($0.54) per liter.

— The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs has proposed that the government issue a VND20 trillion ($854.22 million) bailout package to cushion the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lifestyle

— A total of 60 artworks are up for auction from 9:00 am on Sunday until the end of April 4 by An Ninh Thu Do (Capital Security) newspaper and Indochine Art JSC in support of Vietnam’s COVID-19 fight. Each of the auction’s five sessions will last for 48 hours with 12 lots on offer, and all proceeds collected will be used to support frontline medical workers, the organizers said.

Sports

— The women’s national football team of Vietnam still top Southeast Asia although they have dropped three places on the FIFA Women’s World Rankings for March. In the list, the Vietnamese team stand sixth in Asia and 35th in the world.

World News

— The novel coronavirus has infected over 721,300 people and killed nearly 34,000 globally as of Monday morning, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

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