In Viet Yen district, after the epidemic was basically contained, the number of visitors to Bo Da Pagoda has begin to increase rapidly. Nguyen Van Loc, deputy head of the district’s Culture and Information Office, said: "At this time, there are about 5,000 visitors to Bo Da Pagoda each day. This year, the district did not organize a festival here but visitors from near and far still remembered and came to the pagoda". To create a safe environment for visitors, the Bo Da Pagoda relic site management board has arranged 5 disinfection tables, asking pilgrims to wear masks before entering the pagoda to worship.

Passenger washes their hands with sanitizer before entering the Bac Giang bus station.

In addition, the pagoda regularly uses loudspeakers to disseminate information and persuade people to well implement prevention measures. Nguyen Thi Hong from Thang township (Hiep Hoa district), who was preparing offerings, said: “Although the epidemic has been well controlled, I still protect myself in crowded places by regularly wearing a mask and minimizing contact with others".

At the Bac Giang bus station, Le Van Thanh, Deputy Director of the station, said: "Passenger transportation has been bustling again. Everyday, there are 440 bus departures with more than 13,200 passengers, a month-on-month increase of about 20 percent. Each driver is required to wear a mask and wash hands with sanitizer. When a bus is about to leave, the station’s staff boards the bus to remind passengers to wear masks, maintain general hygiene, and minimize communication to protect themselves and the community ".

To ensure the Covid-18 prevention and control on means of transport, the Department of Transport has required transport enterprises to focus on providing safety services for passengers. Transport businesses must ask passengers to disinfect their hands and wear a mask during the journey.

Currently, business activities take place normally at the BigC Bac Giang Trade Center. Customers and cashiers both voluntarily wear masks. Right at the entrances, supermarket staff ask customers to wash their hands with sanitizer and recommend them keep a distance when choosing goods. The unit strengthens the arrangement of goods, cleans the shelves, periodically disinfects the entire shopping center, and makes antiseptic solution and hand masks available for customers.

According to the provincial Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control, there are still risks of the pandemic returning to Bac Giang province as some agencies, units and people are subjective and neglectful in preventing the epidemic. People who entered illegally and returned to provinces and cities have not actively made medical declaration and even escaped from quarantine, causing difficulties for pandemic prevention and control. Production and business activities in industrial zones and clusters in the province have been resumed, resulting in an increase of foreign experts and technical workers entering Bac Giang to work.

Tu Quoc Hieu, Director of the provincial Department of Health and deputy head of the provincial Steering Committee for Covid-19 Control and Prevention, said: "To proactively respond effectively to the risks of outbreak, in the coming time, the committee will direct agencies and localities to regularly disseminate information and raise public awareness of epidemic prevention and control. In some districts where many industrial zones and clusters are located, it is necessary to closely monitor the number of migrant workers entering the province. The health sector must ensure foreign experts and technical workers are put under safe and effective quarantine".

Recently, on March 25, the provincial Center for Disease Control took 106 samples of workers working at the Crystal Martin Vietnam Co., Ltd. in the Quang Chau Industrial Park (Viet Yen district), and all turned out negative for SARS-CoV-2. This is the second time the provincial Center for Disease Control has taken samples of officials and workers here for Covid-19 testing.

Newly-established firms down in Q1

Vietnam had 29,300 newly-established enterprises with total registered capital of VND447.8 trillion (US$19.37 billion) in the first quarter of this year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Forestry exports up 41.5% in Q1

Vietnam earned about US$1.52 billion from wood and forestry exports in March, raising the value in the first three months of this year to over US$3.94 billion, up 41.5% year-on-year.

Minh Thu