14TH NATIONAL CONGRESS OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF VIETNAM

Hanoi fines 3,600 Vietnamese and foreigners for flouting face masks rule

Anh Kiet

May 20, 2021 / 12:19 PM

Hanoi has levied fines worth a total of VND6 billion (US$ 260,770) upon 3,600 people, including foreigners, for defying the face mask rule from April 29 to May 16.

Hanoi police are fining those failing to adhere to Covid-19 prevention measures such as not wearing face masks. Photo: Mai Thuong

According to Vietnam's pandemic prevention regulations that took effect from September 28, 2020, those found not wearing face masks in public are subject to fines of VND1-3 million (US$43-130).

The police also inspected business establishments, beer restaurants, bars, and handled 19 businesses for failing to comply with Covid-19 prevention regulations.

The Hanoi Department of Health has suspended four medical facilities and revoked the licenses of eight others for the same offense.

Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Chu Xuan Dung said numerous community transmissions have been confirmed in the city in this latest coronavirus outbreak since late April.

He stressed the risk of Covid-19 spreading in the capital city remains high and asked all relevant units to keep strictly handling Covid-19 prevention violators.

Dung also reminded districts and towns to pay close attention to the pandemic prevention and control in neighboring provinces, especially Bac Ninh and Bac Giang.

The vice chairman requested districts and towns to quickly prepare 1,000 beds for mandatory isolation.

Nearly 3,000 "Covid-19 Safety Teams" established

Chairman of the Hanoi Labor Confederation Nguyen Phi Thuong said at a meeting on May 18 that in the face of the increasingly serious Covid-19 pandemic, nearly 3000 "Covid-19 Safety Teams" have been established in 770 enterprises across the city, with a total of 18,701 members.

He added that the Hanoi Labor Confederation also activated 3,340 groups on the Zalo social media platform with the participation of 100,981 officials and trade union members to promptly deal with the Covid-19 pandemic situation, especially as the national elections are drawing near.

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Scientists warn of increase in magnetic storms

08 Feb, 22:44

The Hanoi Times - The number of magnetic storms will steadily increase until 2011 with possible harm to people’s health and damage to electrical systems, warns the Geology and Physics Institute.There will be 15-20 storms this year with an intensity of 300-400nT (nano-tesla), a unit of magnetic density.Institute director Dr Ha Duyen Chau says the storms will not severely affect electrical distribution but capacity could be lowered when they occur.Electricity and oil pipeline managers should monitor information so they can take preventative measures, he says.Radio waves can also be disrupted.“Unfortunately we can’t say for sure in which months the storms will occur and although we can predict the possibility of a storm one or two days before it happens, we can only know for sure 30 minutes before it strikes,” he explains.The past two years have been quiet with just 10 storms per year, Dr Chau says.The sun’s operative cycle is 11 years. The last peak was in 2001 and the next will be in 2012. At that time, about 40-50 500-600nT storms can be expected.“We can’t exclude the possibility that it will affect Vietnam’s Vinasat-1,” he says.“We are powerless against the storms but we can understand them and thus avoid their effects.”People who suffer from heart disease, high blood pressure and psychological disorders should be aware of the storms and stay at home or travel by car during a magnetic storm.Dr Chau says that, although magnetic storms do not usually markedly affect Vietnam, it has no concrete statistics about the damage they cause.The institute has four monitoring stations-Hanoi’s Gia Lam District, Lao Cai Province’s Sapa, Da Lat in the Central Highlands and Bac Lieu in the south. Their tasks include recording the intensity, amplitude, frequency and duration of the storms.Vietnam started to study magnetic storms in 1957 but the monitoring stations were not installed until after the 500KV national grid was functioning in 1998.The institute’s statistics show the country had 40 magnetic storms in 2001 and 15 in 2006.Magnetic or geomagnetic storms are a disturbance of the earth’s magnetic field associated with charged particles generated from solar flares and sunspots.They usually last from 24 to 48 hours, but some have lasted many days. An electromagnetic storm disrupted power throughout most of Quebec, Canada, in 1989.

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