Society

Hanoi has proposed an additional VND500 billion ($21.87 million) be lent to workers in the city through the local Vietnam Bank for Social Policies branch to help restore production and business, support job creation, and overcome the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The additional capital is expected to meet about 44 per cent of workers’ capital needs and contribute to the creation of 10,000 jobs.

There are 330 businesses in Hanoi that have ceased operations because of Covid-19 and 1,486 that are affected but have continued operations. Some 7,237 workers in the capital have lost their jobs and 35,871 workers are underemployed.

The number of daily Covid-19 cases and the infection rate in Ho Chi Minh City have both fallen significantly. Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam suggested that the city gradually allow production and business activities to enter into a “new normal” after vaccination rates are achieved. The city has completed disbursing the first support package for those affected by the pandemic, with a total cost of over VND700 billion ($30.52 million), and is implementing the second package, with a total cost of more than VND900 billion ($39.24 million).

According to a report from the Department of Employment at the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, Covid-19 has paralyzed the labor market in Vietnam’s south, which employs the most workers in the country. The unemployment rate in urban areas has increased to more than 4 per cent.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology on August 10 announced the results of a preclinical study on a Covid-19 treatment medicine called VIPDERVIR, which is made from herbal ingredients originating in Vietnam. The medicine will continue to be studied at the clinical stage and is expected to be considered for licensing by the end of the year.

Covid-19 has not only disrupted goods supply chains but also labor supply chains. Recruitment demand may increase dramatically post-pandemic, pushing up labor costs and therefore prices. The government needs to issue policies that promote job creation and limit the effect of “false affluence” in the labor market by reducing the unemployment rate.