Read what is in the news today:

Politics

— Vietnamese Ambassador to the United States Ha Kim Ngoc joined a recent online discussion between Vietnamese representative offices in the host country and the association of Vietnamese students there, focusing on measures to support Vietnamese citizens and students amid the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Society

— Vietnam’s Ministry of Health confirmed two new COVID-19 patients (COVID-19) on Monday morning, both linked to Ha Loi Village in Me Linh District, Hanoi, which has emerged as a new epicenter in the capital city with ten cases so far. The village of over 11,000 people has been fenced off since Tuesday last week.

— The steering committee for COVID-19 prevention and control in the central province of Quang Nam is searching for Leyson Smith Santamaria Orjuela, a 22-year-old Colombian national, who sneaked out of a COVID-19 quarantine facility in Hoi An City at around 7:00 pm on Saturday. He has overstayed his temporary residency since February 22.

— National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines flew 12 Vietnamese citizens stranded in Japan back home on Sunday, according to a representative of the airline.

Business

— Vietnamese low-cost carrier VietJet Air on Sunday launched its Power Pass accounts allowing passengers to fly unlimited on its 45 domestic routes during the validity of their passes, which can be purchased for VND8.99 million (US$380) and VND16.99 million ($720) for flights scheduled for now until the end of September 30, 2020 and March 31, 2021, respectively.

— The Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association has announced that its members’ March sales reached 19,154 units, eight percent higher than the figure recorded in February.

— The Vietnam Steel Association’s member enterprises suffered a strong reduction in production and business in the first quarter of this year, recording a plunge of 15 percent in steel output to 5.4 million metric tons and 20 percent in consumption to 4.4 million metric tons year-on-year. Meanwhile, steel exports reached 300,000 metric tons, down 38 percent from the same period last year.

Lifestyle

— A first-ever online book fair will be held from April 19 to May 20 in celebration of the seventh Vietnam Book Day, which falls on April 21 each year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event will be open to readers via Book365.vn, featuring online booths by accredited publishing houses and distribution companies.

Education

— The ‘Hack Covy’ hackathon, a programming contest launched by the Hanoi Youth Union in coordination with the United Nations Development Program in Vietnam and AngelHack Vietnam, is offering a $2,000 grant for innovative ideas in education, healthcare, information, and economics to tackle the COVID-19 epidemic.

World News

— The novel coronavirus has infected over 1.85 million people and killed more than 114,200 others around the world, according to statistics. More than 423,400 patients have recovered worldwide.

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