Here are today’s leading news stories:

COVID-19 Updates

-- Vietnam’s Ministry of Health documented 9,531 COVID-19 infections on Saturday, down by 99 cases from a day earlier. The country’s tally stood at 1,084,625, with 900,337 recoveries and 23,685 deaths.

-- The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health has proposed that the quarantine period of COVID-19 patients be reduced to seven days if they are fully vaccinated and do not have any symptoms.

-- Authorities in Hanoi have issued guidance on quarantining direct contacts of COVID-19 patients at home in all districts except Ba Dinh, Hoan Kiem, Dong Da, and Hai Ba Trung.

Society

-- A heavy downpour accompanied by rising tide resulted in inundation in many neighborhoods across Ho Chi Minh City late on Saturday afternoon.

-- Laborers in Vietnam will have a three-day holiday running from January 1 to 3 on the occasion of the 2021 New Year Day, according to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs.

-- Interned speed in Vietnam has improved after the S1H.3 branch along the AAE-1 submarine cable system was repaired. The remaining error on the S1H.4 is still being fixed.

Lifestyle

-- More than 200 fully-vaccinated visitors from South Korea arrived in Phu Quoc, a popular island off the southern Vietnamese province of Kien Giang, on a charter flight on Saturday afternoon to commence their four-day-three-night tour on the island.

-- A contest to find this year’s best pho cook was organized by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper at Seefahrer Café in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday, within the framework of the 2021 Day of Pho (December 12).

Education

-- The Hanoi People’s Committee has allowed ninth graders in 17 suburban districts and towns to resume offline learning next week, following the proposal of the municipal Department of Education and Training.

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