Chaired by the Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Ngo Duc Manh, the event attracted more than 60 participants representing Vietnamese business community, students, war veterans, and volunteer groups in the host country as well as the embassy’s staff members.
The participants hailed the Ambassador’s idea to establish the network, which will help to connect the Vietnamese community in Russia and promote their solidarity in the fight against COVID-19.
They also pledged to contribute ideas and financial support to people who are facing difficulties amidst the outbreak, including the positive COVID-19 cases and those who are in need of medical, accommodation and paperwork support.
Ambassador Ngo Duc Manh suggested dividing the network into five operational groups in charge of information, translation, medical, legal, and logistic services with the embassy’s staff members playing the key role in each group.
He called on donations from the network’s members to the Fund for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, which is managed by the Overseas Vietnamese Association in Russia. Each embassy’s staff has already donated one day of their salary to the fund, he noted
He also informed that the embassy will launch more hotlines to support people who have been impacted by COVID-19.
Earlier, on April 14, the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia sent a diplomatic note to local authorities calling for essential and timely health support for Overseas Vietnamese (OV) in the context of the increasing number of COVID-19 infections within the Vietnamese community in the country.
According to the embassy, as of April 15, about 100 OVs in Russia have been hospitalised for treatment of common pneumonia and pneumonia caused by the virus. Of them, at least 80 cases in Moscow have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Notably, many of them have been told to receive treatment at home because of their stable health conditions.
The embassy has regularly updated the Vietnamese community on relevant information and provided support when needed.
