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Vietnam Designates November 19 National Day of Mourning for Covid-19 Victims

Thousands of Vietnamese lives have been claimed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

VnExpressreports that a national memorial service to remember those who have passed away due to COVID-19 in Vietnam will be held on November 19.

On November 13, Phùng Khánh Tài, vice chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, said in a virtual meeting with relevant government agencies that the service will take place in Saigon and Hanoi and be broadcast live. Tài added that other localities and religious organizations can join in with local activities.

During the service, the Fatherland Front discourages state agencies and provinces from holding cultural, leisure and entertainment events. TV channels are to suspend programs of this nature.

The Vietnamese Fatherland Front, the umbrella organization of political organizations and social groups, will work with officials in cities and provinces nationwide, as well as the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, to arrange the ceremony, which will be held online. 

This follows a proposal by Nguyễn Anh Trí, former head of the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, to establish a national day of mourning during a National Assembly session on Monday. Nguyễn Hữu Thông, an assembly member from Binh Thuan Province, proposed April 27, 2022, which would mark one year since the country's most severe outbreak began. 

As of this writing, Vietnam has recorded 22,849 deaths linked to COVID-19, according to the Ministry of Health. That figure that was just 35 before the start of the ongoing outbreak. 

[Photo by Ngọc Thành via VnExpress]

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