VUNG TAU, Vietnam: Vietnam will lift the lockdown in its largest city on Friday, ending nearly three months of restrictions on movement to curb a coronavirus surge.
People in Ho Chi Minh City, a metropolis of 10 million, will be able to leave their homes, restaurants can serve take-away meals and other essential businesses can open, the city said on its website Thursday.
A social distancing order, however, will still be enforced. Schools are closed, public transport remains suspended, travel in and out of the city will be controlled and public gatherings of more than 10 people outside is banned.
People who wish to attend social activities will have to show proof of vaccination to be admitted to establishments, authorities said.
Ho Chi Minh City along with 18 southern provinces went into lockdown in mid-July when cases started to surge.
In the past three months, the delta variant of the virus has infected 770,000 people and killed over 19,000, according to the health ministry. Most of Vietnam’s COVID-19 deaths occurred in this wave, with Ho Chi Minh City accounting for the majority of them.
Other southern cities have also eased lockdown restrictions, gradually resuming activities as infections decline.
In the past week, Vietnam’s average new cases dropped by a third compared to earlier in the month when 14,000 were being recorded daily, the health ministry said.
In Vung Tau city, 70 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh city, barricades set up on the streets to control traffic during the lockdown were taken down as local residents cheered.
“We will have to celebrate this day, that the city is removing the barricades so we can go out again and get back to our normal lives,” local resident Pham Van Thanh said as he helped officers remove a barricade on his street.
Vietnam is speeding up vaccinations in order to reopen the country, with priority for big cities and vulnerable locations such as industrial zones.
Ho Chi Minh City’s health authority last week approved shortening the interval between two shots of AstraZeneca to six weeks, against the recommended eight to 12 weeks by the manufacturers, in order to fully vaccinate people quickly.
The health ministry says 98.5 percent of the city’s adults have been inoculated and 48 percent of them have received both shots.
However, Vietnam’s overall vaccination rate remain low with only 9.3 percent of its 98 million people fully vaccinated. The authority said short supply is the reason for the delay of virus inoculation.
Vietnam to end coronavirus lockdown in largest city after 3 months
https://arab.news/jaa5g
Vietnam to end coronavirus lockdown in largest city after 3 months
- People in Ho Chi Minh City, a metropolis of 10 million, will be able to leave their homes
- In the past week, Vietnam’s average new cases dropped by a third compared to earlier in the month
Two high-speed trains derail in Spain, police sources say 21 people killed
- The accident happened near Adamuz, in Cordoba province. So far, 21 people have been confirmed dead by police
MADRID: A high-speed train derailed and smashed into another oncoming train in southern Spain on Sunday, pushing the second train off the tracks in a collision that police sources confirmed to Reuters had killed at least 21 people.
The accident happened near Adamuz, in Cordoba province. So far, 21 people have been confirmed dead by police, with state broadcaster Television Espanola adding that 100 people had been injured, 25 seriously. The driver of one of the trains, which was traveling from Madrid to Huelva, was among those who died, the TV station added.
“The Iryo 6189 Malaga — (to Madrid) train has derailed from the track at Adamuz, crashing onto the adjacent track. The (Madrid) to Huelva train which was traveling on the adjacent track has also derailed,” said Adif, which runs the rail network, in a social media post.
Adif said the accident happened at 6:40 p.m. (1740 GMT), about 10 minutes after the Iryo train left Cordoba heading toward Madrid.
Iryo is a private rail operator, majority-owned by Italian state-controlled railway group Ferrovie dello Stato. The train involved was a Freccia 1000 train which was traveling between Malaga and Madrid, a spokesperson for Ferrovie dello Stato said.
The company said in a statement that it deeply regretted what had happened and had activated all emergency protocols to work closely with the relevant authorities to manage the situation.
The second train was operated by Renfe, which also did not respond to a request for comment.
Adif has suspended all rail services between Madrid and Andalusia.
HORRIFIC SCENE
The Iryo train had more than 300 passengers on board, while the Renfe train had around 100.
Paco Carmona, Cordoba fire chief, told TVE the first train heading to Madrid from Malaga had been evacuated.
The other train’s carriages were badly damaged, he said, with twisted metal and seats. “There are still people trapped. We don’t know how many people have died and the operation is concentrating on getting people out of areas which are very narrow,” he said. “We have to remove the bodies to reach anyone who is still alive. It is proving to be a complicated task.”
Transport Minister Oscar Puente said he was following events from rail operator Adif’s headquarters in Madrid.
“The latest information is very serious,” he posted on X. “The impact was terrible, causing the first two carriages of the Renfe train to be thrown off the track. The number of victims cannot be confirmed at this time. The most important thing now is to help the victims.”
The mayor of Adamuz, Rafael Moreno, told El Pais newspaper that he had been among the first to arrive at the scene of the accident alongside the local police and saw what he believed to be a badly lacerated body several meters from the accident site.
“The scene is horrific,” he said. “I don’t think they were on the same track, but it’s not clear. Now the mayors and residents of the area are focused on helping the passengers.”
CALLS FOR MEDICS
Images on local television showed a reception center set up for passengers in the town of Adamuz, population 5,000, with locals coming and going with food and blankets amid nighttime temperatures of around 42 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius).
A woman named Carmen posted on X that she had been on board the Iryo train to Madrid. “Ten minutes after departing (from Cordoba) the train started to shake a lot, and it derailed from coach 6 behind us. The lights went out.”
Footage posted by another Iryo train passenger, also on X, showed an Iryo staffer in a fluorescent jacket instructing passengers to remain in their seats in the darkened carriages, and those with first aid training to keep watch over fellow passengers. He also urged people to maintain mobile phone batteries to be able to use their torches when they disembarked.
Salvador Jimenez, a journalist for RTVE who was on board the Iryo train, shared images showing the nose of the rear carriage of the train lying on its side, with evacuated passengers sitting on the side of the carriage facing upwards.
Jimenez told TVE by phone from beside the stricken trains that passengers had used emergency hammers to smash the windows and climb out, and they had seen two people taken out of the overturned carriages on stretchers.
“There’s a certain uncertainty about when we’ll get to Madrid, where we’ll spend the night, we’ve had no message from the train company yet,” he said. “It’s very cold but here we are.”
