Here are today’s leading news stories:

COVID-19 Updates

-- Authorities in Hanoi have required all arrivals from countries where the COVID-19 Omicron variant has been detected to undergo concentrated quarantine even if they have been fully vaccinated.

-- Air passengers from Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho City to other localities in Vietnam are no longer required to test negative for the novel coronavirus prior to their departure, according to a new regulation announced by the Ministry of Transport on Monday evening.

-- Ho Chi Minh City has spent more than VND9.1 trillion (US$398.7 million) on COVID-19 prevention and control efforts in 2021, according to the municipal People’s Committee.

Society

-- Temperature in Hanoi dropped to 10 degrees Celsius between Monday night and early Tuesday morning because of a strong cold spell, the National Center for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting reported.

-- Border guard officers in the northern province of Lao Cai confirmed on Monday they had arrested three suspects for transporting 40 bricks of heroin along a national highway.

-- Four houses were burned down as a truck carrying oil canisters caught fire in the Mekong Delta province of Ca Mau on Monday, with one person suffering serious burns and admitted to hospital for emergency treatment.

-- Police in the south-central province of Phu Yen have launched an investigation after finding the burned body of a man on the side of a local street on Monday.

-- Officers in Ho Chi Minh City have apprehended four members of an illegal ring that had stolen about 1,000 dogs between October and December.

Business 

-- The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Sports has proposed that karaoke parlors, discos, and dance clubs be allowed to resume operations as the pandemic has been put under control.

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