The poor look out for peers in Covid-19 times

By Minh Trang, Pham Nga   April 18, 2020 | 03:30 pm GMT+7

The poor look out for peers in Covid-19 times

A lottery ticket vendor (R) receives a bag of free lunch from a charity kitchen in Ho Chi Minh City, April 17, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Khoa.
At many donation distribution sites in Vietnam, poor people crippled by Covid-19 are thankful and won’t take more than they need.

Last Friday afternoon, two women walked to a charity booth at 420 Lac Long Quan Street in Hanoi.

One of them took the donated food items and walked off immediately.

The other, a slim woman in her mid-thirties, hesitated after receiving her gift pack.

She stood silently for a while, an envelope in her hand. After she’d gathered enough courage, she walked towards Dao Tuan Hung, who was managing the booth. She pressed the envelope into his hand.

“I immediately told her it was a free present, but she said that it was not money. She left quickly after giving me the envelope,” Hung said.

Inside was a handwritten letter.

“Dear ladies and gentlemen.

I have been an unemployed worker since the Covid-19 disease hit the country, the people and the government’s 16th decree (national social distancing campaign) to ensure the lives of people and the community. I sold things for a living but had to stop and paying rent has become difficult. I came across Lac Long Quan Street and found this place which distributes rice and noodles.

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U.N. warns economic downturn could kill hundreds of thousands of children in 2020

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Hundreds of thousands of children could die this year due to the global economic downturn sparked by the coronavirus pandemic and tens of millions more could fall into extreme poverty as a result of the crisis, the United Nations warned on Thursday.

The world body also said in a risk report that nearly 369 million children across 143 countries who normally rely on school meals for a reliable source of daily nutrition have now been forced to look elsewhere.
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Gov’t not to loosen entry restrictions until month end due to COVID-19 18:11 | 16/04/2020

VGP – Entry restrictions will not be eased until April 30, according to the latest announcement released by the Government Office.

Entry restrictions shall continue to be implemented until April 30 to prevent COVID-19

>>> Gov’t halts visa issuance to foreigners to staunch COVID-19

>>> Gov’t extends social distancing for at least one week in 28 localities

Under the announcement, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has tasked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of National Defense and Ministry of Public Security to continue tightening entry control.
Tiếp tục đọc “Gov’t not to loosen entry restrictions until month end due to COVID-19 18:11 | 16/04/2020”