Read what is in the news today:

COVID-19 Updates

-- Vietnam recorded one imported case of COVID-19 from Japan on Monday morning, bringing the national tally to 2,785 infections, with 2,475 recoveries and 35 virus-related deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

-- As many as 79,182 people had been vaccinated against COVID-19 in Vietnam as of Sunday.

-- The Ministry of Health ordered the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City, an epidemiological research institute, to set up a COVID-19 testing lab in Ha Tien City in Kien Giang Province, which borders Cambodia. Illegal immigration from Cambodia remains rampant in the southern Vietnamese locality while the COVID-19 situation in the neighboring country stays complicated.

Society

-- Road users in Ho Chi Minh City complained about tens of motorcyclists blocking a section of Truong Chinh Street in District 12 to organize an illegal race on Sunday afternoon.

-- Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has ordered the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and the chairs of the People’s Committees of 13 provinces where the North-South Expressway will pass through to ensure the supply of building materials for the construction of the mammoth project.

-- Police in Ho Chi Minh City discovered over 100 people testing positive for drugs at a nightclub on Le Van Khuong Street in District 12 at around 1:00 am on Sunday.

Business

-- Vietnam’s ratio of debt-to-GDP was over 140 percent and the country is among those with the highest rates against international standards, Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Thi Hong reported to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Saturday morning.

Lifestyle

-- The eighth Vietnam Book Day kicked off at Ho Chi Minh City’s Book Street on Nguyen Van Binh Street in District 1 on Sunday, featuring various activities, both online and offline.

World news

-- “Two men died after a Tesla (TSLA.O) vehicle, which was believed to be operating without anyone in the driver's seat, crashed into a tree on Saturday night north of Houston, authorities said,” Reuters reported.

-- Germany, represented by Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, held a national memorial service in a Berlin concert hall on Sunday for its nearly 80,000 victims of the coronavirus pandemic, putting aside deep divisions over COVID-19 restrictions to share the pain of grieving families, according to AFP.