Son Dong Cave honoured by Google Doodle (Photo: Google)
The cave was hounoured on the Vietnamese Google homepage together with 17 nations around the world, including the UK, Singapore, Thailand, Mexico, Sweden, Greece, Romania, Argentina, and Chile.
The cave, which has a large, fast-flowing underground river inside, had its entrance discovered by local resident Ho Khanh in 1990.
Professional geologists estimate that the cave was formed about 2 to 5 million years ago. (Photo: VNA)
In 2009, the BCRA expedition team (British Cave Research Association) officially announced Son Doong as the world's largest natural cave. Shortly afterward, it completed the survey and measurement of the entire Son Doong Cave with a length of over 9km and a space of 38.5 million cu.m. Therefore, to mark this special event, Google Doodle has chosen April 14 as Hang (cave) Son Doong's Day.
Professional geologists estimate that the cave was formed about 2 to 5 million years ago.
The cave is large enough for an entire 40-story skyscraper. Scientists have discovered remarkable geological formations in the cave, including the world's tallest stalactite.
The giant dolines in the cave allow sunlight to penetrate into them forming the lush tropical jungle and a unique ecosystem, which are home to many rare species, according to Google.
Son Doong Cave has drawn international attention and become a staple on adventure bucket lists for travellers from around the world.
World-renowned travel magazines and newspapers have repeatedly named Son Doong Cave as one of the best natural wonders and dream destinations for travellers.
Vietnam kick-starts COVID-19 vaccination campaign for kids aged 5-12
Vietnam on April 14 kick-started a COVID-19 vaccination campaign for children aged 5 to under 12 in Quang Ninh province, using the Moderna vaccine, reported the Voice of Vietnam.
A person gets vaccinated against COVID-19 (Photo: VNA)
Nearly 12 million children aged 5 -12 will be vaccinated against COVID-19 in the second quater of 2022.
The campaign is set to be launched in other localities across the country next week, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH).
A MoH representative said approximately 11.8 million children aged from 5 to 12 will be vaccinated against COVID-19 this time. They will be given two shots and the campaign will be completed by the end of the second quarter.
Priority will be given to graders 6 (12 years old). Those infected with COVID-19 will be inoculated in July and August.
Vietnam is scheduled to receive approximately 7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses donated by the Australian government this April. The first batch comprising 921,600 doses arrived in Hanoi on April 9.
Child vaccination against COVID-19 is part of the ongoing national vaccination campaign aimed at achieving herd immunity.
Ministry issues two scenarios for COVID-19 pandemic
The Ministry of Health (MoH) has issued two scenarios for the COVID-19 pandemic based on the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s studies and scientific grounds, reported Vietnam News Agency.
High school students get vaccinated against COVID-19. (Photo: VNA)
Phan Trong Lan, Director of the MoH’s General Department of Preventive Medicine, said the first scenario is that the virulence of the Omicron variant will gradually ease while the immunity obtained thanks to COVID-19 vaccination and infections will help bring down the numbers of new and severe cases, as well as fatalities.
In that case, Vietnam will shift to the new normal, which means COVID-19 will become an endemic disease, he noted, adding that if every people is aware of their risks and adopts anti-pandemic measures well, the life will be back to normal, and focus will be put on the elderly and those with comorbidities.
In the second scenario, new variants of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 will continually appear and many reduce the effectiveness of vaccines, spread more quickly, and raise the risk of severity.
If that is the case, urgent anti-pandemic measures will be taken like what were done in the past, Lan went on.
Vietnam now has many “weapons” like vaccines, drugs, treatment experience, and anti-pandemic measures against the pandemic. However, it is necessary to further stay updated with new medications and especially vaccine technology, according to the official.
The MoH said COVID-19 has been basically brought under control nationwide.
So far, the country has recorded more than 10 million infections, including 42,878 deaths - equivalent to 0.4 percent of the total.
The ratio of fatality to morbidity has fallen sharply over the last 30 days, from 0.13 percent to 0.03 percent.
Given the decreased severe cases and deaths, the expanded vaccination coverage, and the continuous drop in new infections worldwide, WHO perceived that COVID-19 will not disappear completely but may soon become an endemic disease.
Nearly USD1.5 bln in trade surplus for Vietnam in Q1
Vietnam continued to expand foreign trade in the first quarter of 2022, producing a trade surplus of USD1.46 billion, reported the Voice of Vietnam according to the latest data unveiled by the General Department of Vietnam Customs.
Vietnam enjoys a trade surplus of nearly USD1.5 billion in Q1, 2022. (Photo: vneconomy.vn)
Statistics show the export-import value rose 20% to USD36.66 billion in the second half of March compared to the first half of the same month.
The additional figure helped raise the country’s total foreign trade value in the first quarter to USD176.75 billion, an increase of 14.3% year on year.
Of the three-month total, exports brought back USD89.1 billion, up 13.4%, while imports inched up 15.2% to USD87.64 billion, helping Vietnam secure a trade surplus of USD1.46 billion.
The General Statistics Office reported that five groups of commodities raking in more than USD5 billion in export each were phones and components (>14 billion), electronics, computers and appliances (>13 billion), machinery and equipment (nearly 10 billion), garments (nearly 9 billion), and footwear (>5 billion).
Meanwhile, several groups of commodities having an import value of more than USD5 billion each were electronics, computers and appliances (>21 billion), machinery and equipment (>10 billion) and phones and components (>5 billion).
The FDI sector generated USD123.05 billion of the country’s total foreign trade value, up 12.8%, while the domestic business sector contributed nearly USD53.7 billion, up 17.9%.
The United States was Vietnam’s largest export market in the first quarter with an estimated turnover of USD25.2 billion. China was Vietnam’s largest import market with an estimated turnover of USD27.6 billion.
Notably, Vietnam enjoyed an estimated trade surplus of USD7 billion with the European Union. However, it slipped into an estimated trade deficit of USD14.3 billion with China, USD10.4 billion with the Republic of Korea, USD3.3 billion with ASEAN, and USD434 million with Japan./.