Check out the news you should not miss today:

COVID-19 Updates

-- From January 19 until further notice, Ho Chi Minh City will suspend operations of COVID-19 field hospitals No. 3, 5, and 10 and Cu Chi Field Hospital. Patients in these infirmaries who need further treatment will be transferred to other facilities.

-- Ho Chi Minh City authorities have detected one more imported case of the Omicron variant, which is an 82-year-old Vietnamese repatriate from the U.S. who arrived in Ho Chi Minh City on January 10, bringing the total number of infections carrying this strain in the city to 13.

-- Can Tho City in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta has been classified as level 2, or an area at medium risk of COVID-19 transmission, according to the municipal People’s Committee on Friday.

Society

-- The People’s Procuracy of Quang Nam Province in central Vietnam on Friday launched legal proceedings against a 42-year-old local man for allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old boy multiple times.

-- The People’s Court in Khanh Hoa Province on Friday sentenced a 31-year-old man to seven years in prison for mudering his wife’s lover during a jealous rage.

-- The Krong Pak District People's Court in Vietnam's Central Highlands province of Dak Lak convicted the namesake district-level People's Committee and the authorities of a local secondary school of violating the law for unilaterally terminating labor contracts with five teachers on Friday, and ordered them to compensate the teachers nearly VND1.3 billion (US$57,230).

-- Following months of COVID-19 restrictions, An Giang Province in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta has allowed restaurants and eateries to serve alcohol drinks again starting Friday.

-- Police in Ho Chi Minh City on Friday busted a gang of thieves that stole valuables and jewelries from many houses in the city.

-- The Secretariat of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) has called on the six countries along the Mekong to urgently solve the problem of low flows in the region.

World News

-- Hundreds of students in Boston and Chicago walked out of classes on Friday in protests demanding a switch to remote learning as a surge in COVID-19 cases fueled by the Omicron variant disrupted efforts at returning to in-person education around the United States, Reuters reported.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!