Vietnam to commemorate pandemic victims

Vietnamese Fatherland Front, a political coalition organization and voluntary union of political organizations, socio-political organizations representing all classes, social strata, ethnic groups, religions and overseas Vietnamese, will collaborate with authorities in cities and provinces to organize the ceremony.

The event will be held online, National Assembly (NA) chairman Vuong Dinh Hue told a meeting with legislators Thursday.

"This is an issue many NA deputies have proposed."

The government, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs will collaborate with the Front to host the event, he said.

Vietnam has lost 22,765 people to the pandemic, or 2.4 percent of infections.

Deputy Nguyen Anh Tri, former head of the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, had proposed a national day of mourning at an NA session Monday, adding that many countries have already done so.

Deputy Nguyen Huu Thong from the central Binh Thuan Province suggested taking April 27, the day when the fourth wave hit Vietnam, as the day of remembrance.

The wave, which has yet to be fully controlled, has been the most challenging the nation has faced.

Its infection tally has climbed to 987,758. Of this, 22,730 patients have died, including 16,887 in Ho Chi Minh City.