Vietnam’s capital on Monday extended COVID-19 restrictions for a further two weeks, as authorities launched a plan to test up to 1.5 million people for the coronavirus in higher-risk areas of the capital to contain rising infections.
The Southeast Asian country dealt successfully with the virus for much of the pandemic, but the virulent delta variant has proved more challenging in recent months.
Hanoi, which has ordered people to stay at home and has halted all non-essential activities since July, has now divided the city into “red,” “orange” and “green” zones based on infection risk.
“Accordingly, people in red areas must shelter in place and one person of every household there will be tested three times per week,” a statement from city authorities said, noting that in other zones people would be tested every five to seven days.
Barricades on Monday separated red zones from other areas, photographs posted on social media and media outlets showed.
A barricade installed in Hanoi to restrict people’s movements is part of plans by authorities to stop the spread of COVID-19. (Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images)
Hanoi authorities expect up to 1.5 million test samples to be collected in the next week. The government is eager to keep the outbreak from reaching the intensity seen in Ho Chi Minh City.
Hanoi has been reporting on average 50 cases daily and has recorded over 4,000 cases since the pandemic began, official data showed.
Although the numbers are still low, authorities are wary after the delta variant helped drive up infections across the country to over 524,000 cases.
One third of Hanoi’s eight million residents have been given at least one dose of a vaccine and on Sunday the health ministry called on the capital and Ho Chi Minh City to vaccinate all adult residents with at least one dose by Sept. 15.
Vietnam has one of the lowest coronavirus vaccination rates in the region, with only 3.3 per cent of its 98 million people fully vaccinated, and 15.4 per cent with one shot.
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What’s happening around the world
As of Monday afternoon, more than 220.9 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. The reported global death toll stood at more than 4.5 million.
In Europe, the European Medicines Agency says it has started an expedited evaluation on whether to recommend use of a booster dose of the coronavirus vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech, with a decision expected within a few weeks.
In a statement Monday, the EU drug regulator says it is considering whether a third dose of the vaccine should be given six months after people over age 16 have received two doses “to restore protection after it has waned.”
Meantime, Italy’s health minister says a two-day meeting of his G20 counterparts yielded resolve to help poor nations obtain more COVID-19 vaccines.
Minister Roberto Speranza told reporters in Rome on Monday that achieving that includes vaccine production in less developed nations. The goal is “to bring vaccines to every corner of the world,” he said, describing the meeting’s unanimous final document as a “departure point.”
Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza talks to reporters following the G20 health ministers’ meeting in Rome on Monday. (Roberto Monaldo/LaPresse/The Associated Press)
In the Middle East, many Israelis made last-minute preparations for the Jewish New Year holiday, which will be marked on Monday evening as COVID-19 restrictions remain in place. The central market place in Western Jerusalem was packed with shoppers buying groceries for the two-day holiday.
On Sunday, the country’s tourism ministry said it will begin allowing organized foreign tour groups into Israel, beginning Sept. 19.
Tourists must be vaccinated against COVID-19, present a negative PCR test before their flight and undergo both PCR and serological testing upon arrival. Visitors must quarantine in their hotels until results come back — a process expected to take no more than 24 hours.
In the Americas, the Chilean health regulator on Monday approved the COVID-19 vaccine produced by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd for use in children over six years of age, allowing more people to be included in the country’s rapid inoculation campaign.
The U.S. government’s top infectious disease expert says he believes delivery of COVID-19 vaccine booster shots will be able beginning Sept. 20 for Americans who received Pfizer doses, while Moderna’s may end up rolling out a couple of weeks later.
Dr. Anthony Fauci told CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday that U.S. health regulators need more time to study data from Moderna Inc. on its booster’s efficacy.
Families separated by state border closures due to Australia’s COVID-19 restrictions gathered on Sunday at a barricade separating New South Wales and Queensland to mark Father’s Day. (Reuters TV)
In the Asia-Pacific region, South Korea’s daily increase in coronavirus infections has exceeded 1,000 for the 62nd consecutive day as officials are raising concerns about another viral spike during this month’s Chuseok holidays, the Korean version of Thanksgiving.
Most of New Zealand will move out of lockdown Tuesday except for the largest city of Auckland, which will remain in the strictest type of lockdown until at least next week, the government announced Monday. The nation has been battling an outbreak of the delta variant since last month, with all recent cases being reported in Auckland, including 20 found on Monday.
In Africa, COVID-19 vaccine shipments ramped up in August, but the continent is still set to miss its goal of vaccinating the most vulnerable 10 per cent in every country by the end of September, according to Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, regional director of the World Health Organization for Africa.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Darcy Kuemper made 16 saves for his first shutout of the season and 32nd overall, helping the Los Angeles Kings beat the Nashville Predators 3-0 on Monday night.
Adrian Kempe had a goal and an assist and Anze Kopitar and Kevin Fiala also scored. The Kings have won two of their last three.
Juuse Saros made 24 saves for the Predators. They are 1-2-1 in their last four.
Kopitar opened the scoring with 6:36 remaining in the opening period. Saros denied the Kings captain’s first shot, but Kopitar collected the rebound below the goal line and banked it off the netminder’s skate.
Fiala, a former Predator, made it 2-0 35 seconds into the third.
The Kings held Nashville to just three third-period shots on goal, the first coming with 3:55 remaining and Saros pulled for an extra attacker.
Elsewhere in the NHL on Monday:
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DEVILS 3 OILERS 0
EDMONTON, Alta. (AP) — Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his NHL career, helping the New Jersey Devils close their western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored. The Devils improved to 8-5-2. They have won three of their last four after a four-game skid.
Calvin Pickard made 13 saves for Edmonton. The Oilers had won two straight.
