Vietnam lockdowns leading to global shortages

A Covid Lockdown In This Country Brings Global Clothing Giants To A Halt | NDTV - Agence France-Presse:

September 29, 2021 - "From shoes and sweaters to car parts and coffee, Vietnam's strict and lengthy coronavirus lockdown has sparked product shortages among worldwide brands such as Nike and Gap which have grown increasingly dependent on the Southeast Asian nation's manufacturers. The snarl-ups at Vietnam's factories are part of a broader crisis around the planet that is sending inflation surging and raising concerns about the pace of recovery in the global economy....

"At a fabric mill east of Hanoi, Claudia Anselmi – the Italian director of Hung Yen Knitting & Dyeing, a key cog in the supply chain of several European and US clothing giants – worries daily if the factory can keep the lights on. Its output plunged by 50 percent when Vietnam's latest devastating virus wave first struck in spring, and it faces perpetual problems securing the yarn it needs for its synthetic material.

"While lockdowns are gradually loosening across the country as infections steadily decline, millions of Vietnamese have been under stay-at-home orders for months. And a complex web of checkpoints and confusing travel permit regulations have made life impossible for truck drivers and businesses trying to move goods across, as well and in and out of, the country.... 

"The delays and restrictions are a major headache for foreign businesses, many of which have pivoted to Southeast Asia from China in recent years – a trend accelerated by the bruising trade war between Washington and Beijing. In the south – the epicentre of Vietnam's fight against Covid-19 – up to 90 percent of supply chains in the garment sector were broken, the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas) said in August, according to state media.

"Nike – which warned last week it was struggling with shortages of its athletic gear and cut its sales forecasts – pointed the finger at Vietnam, among others, saying 80 percent of its factories in the south and nearly half of its apparel plants in the country had shut their doors. The sports colossus sources around half of its footwear from the communist country.... Japan's Fast retailing, which owns the popular Uniqlo brand, also blamed the situation in Vietnam for hold-ups on sweaters, sweatpants, hoodies and dresses, while Adidas said supply chain issues – including in the country – could cost it as much as 500 million euros ($585 million) in sales by the end of the year.

"Even with the prospect of lockdowns easing, many are fretting over the long-term impact on Vietnamese manufacturing, with Nike and Adidas admitting they were looking to temporarily produce elsewhere. In a letter to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, leading business associations representing the United States, the European Union, South Korea and Southeast Asian nations sounded the alarm over production shifting away from Vietnam, warning 20 percent of its manufacturing members had already left....

"The pandemic has not only hit the country's textile industry but is also threatening global coffee supplies, with Vietnam the world's largest producer of robusta beans – the variety used in instant coffee. Prices for the commodity are now sitting at a four-year high. Car companies have not escaped either – Toyota slashed production for September and October owing partly to virus issues, telling AFP 'the impact has been big in Vietnam', as well as Malaysia. 

"Shortages have been made worse by a rise in demand in the West after a virus-induced slump."

Read more: https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/coronavirus-coronavirus-vietnam-a-covid-lockdown-in-vietnam-brings-global-clothing-giants-to-a-halt-2557332

Vietnam, Australia, NZ tighten failing lockdowns

The governments of Australia, New Zealand, and Vietnam have responded to the failure of their lockdown measures to contain the Delta variant of the coronavirus with more lockdown measures.

Vietnam tightens virus lockdown ahead of Harris visit | ABC News - Hau Dinh, Associated Press:

August 23, 2021 - "Vietnam’s largest metropolis, Ho Chi Minh City, went into a tightened lockdown Monday to battle its worst outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, just a day ahead of the arrival of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris.... The city has mobilized police and army troops to enforce the lockdown and to deliver food as well as necessities to each household, city authorities announced. Under the stricter measures imposed for at least two weeks, people in 'high risk' districts are not allowed to leave their homes.

"'People must absolutely stay put, isolate from each other, from house to house, from community to community,' Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said when the new restrictions were announced last week. On Sunday evening, just hours before the intensified lockdown went into effect, the ministry reported 737 virus deaths, its highest single-day total, increasing the death toll since the pandemic began to 8,277.... Hanoi, which is more than 1,100 kilometers (700 miles) north of Ho Chi Minh City ... is also under lockdown.... 

"By asking people to remain in their homes, authorities expect to flatten the current surge of cases. Ho Chi Minh City and the entire southern region of Vietnam had already been in lockdown since July when the delta variant started to spread rapidly. Public gatherings were banned, non-essential businesses closed and people were asked to leave their homes only to buy food or for urgent matters. It is hoped the new severe restrictions in Ho Chi Minh City will bring down the infection rate among its 10 million residents and ease the pressure on its overloaded hospitals....

"Harris is scheduled to attend the inauguration in Hanoi of an office of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, better known as the CDC. It will also serve as the CDC’s regional office for Southeast Asia to deal with issues involving infectious diseases."
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/vietnam-tightens-virus-lockdown-ahead-harris-visit-79596430

New Zealand extended its COVID-19 lockdown until at least Friday | CP24 - Nick Perry & Rod Mcguirk, Associated Press:

August 23, 2021 - "New Zealand's government on Monday said it will extend a strict nationwide lockdown until at least Friday as it tries to extinguish a growing coronavirus outbreak.... First discovered last week, the outbreak has grown to 107 cases. But health authorities say they've found links among most of those cases, giving them hope they can quash the outbreak.... 

"Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the lockdown will continue until at least the end of the month in Auckland, where most of the cases have been found.... Ardern said modeling suggested the outbreak should peak in a few days' time, and then decline.... Ardern also announced that the government has decided to suspend regular Parliament sessions for a week, a move that drew criticism from opposition lawmakers....

"While New Zealand was maintaining its strategy of trying to wipe out the virus completely through lockdowns, neighboring Australia appeared to have conceded that lockdowns would not be able to eliminate the delta variant entirely and could only slow its spread. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said lockdowns are were 'not a sustainable way to live in this country.' He said states must open their borders once vaccination rates reach 80% of the population aged 16 years and older.

"His remarks came as an outbreak in Sydney grew by more than 800 cases, near record levels. Health authorities said an outbreak centered in Melbourne also grew by 71 cases and another in the capital, Canberra, grew by 16 cases. All three cities remained in lockdown."
Read more: https://www.cp24.com/world/new-zealand-extends-national-covid-19-lockdown-for-five-more-days-1.5557434

Covid and lockdowns surge in SE Asia

Malaysia Reports Record Daily Coronavirus Cases Amid Lockdown | Bloomberg - Yantoultra Ngui:
July 9, 2021 - "Malaysia on Friday reported the biggest single-day increase in new coronavirus cases since the outbreak began, even as authorities impose tighter movement restrictions in several areas to curb infections. The Southeast Asian nation added a record 9,180 Covid-19 cases, as well as 77 deaths... [On August 3 it added 17,105 cases - gd.] Although an accelerated vaccine roll-out has allowed the government to ease virus curbs in six states, providing some breathing space to the economy, much of the country remains under lockdown since June 1."
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-09/malaysia-reports-record-daily-coronavirus-cases-amid-lockdown

Philippines to Reimpose Lockdown in Capital; Stocks Plunge | Bloomberg - Andreo Calonzo & Ditas B. Lopez:
July 29, 2021 - "The Philippines will place its capital region under a strict lockdown from Aug. 6 to Aug. 20 and implement additional movement restrictions in the interim to stem the spread of the coronavirus’ delta variant.... The Manila capital region, which accounts for about a third of the economy, will shift to the strictest restriction called enhanced community quarantine.... Most businesses will be shut, and only essential shops like supermarkets and pharmacies can fully operate while restaurants will only be open for take out and deliveries.... Only authorized persons will be allowed to go in and out of the capital region and surrounding provinces. Personal care services like beauty salons will be allowed at 30% capacity. Religious events aren’t allowed, except those held virtually."
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-30/philippines-reimposes-lockdown-in-capital-for-2-wks-from-aug-6

Cambodia to impose COVID-19 lockdowns in areas bordering Thailand | Reuters - Prak Chan Thul:
July 29, 2021 - "Cambodia is set to launch a lockdown in eight provinces bordering Thailand from midnight on Thursday, in a bid to prevent the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus in the Southeast Asian country. Prime Minister Hun Sen signed an order late on Wednesday for the lockdown, which bans people from leaving their homes, gathering in groups and conducting business, except for those involved in operating airlines. Border checkpoints with Thailand will also be closed except to allow for the transport of goods and in emergencies, Hun Sen said, adding the lockdown was due to run until Aug. 12."
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/cambodia-impose-covid-19-lockdowns-areas-bordering-thailand-2021-07-29/

Vietnam to extend lockdown throughout southern region as COVID cases soar | Reuters:
July 31, 2021 - "Vietnam will from Monday extend strict curbs on movement in its business hub Ho Chi Minh City and another 18 cities and provinces throughout its south for another two weeks to help combat its worst COVID-19 outbreak, the government said.... The Southeast Asian country reported 8,624 new infections late on Saturday, with most of the confirmed cases detected in the south, especially Ho Chi Minh City where social distancing measures have been enforced since May 31.... The central coastal city of Danang also imposed movement curbs from Saturday until further notice. In the capital Hanoi, in the north, where a lockdown order will expire next weekend, authorities were considering extending restrictions."
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/vietnam-extend-lockdown-throughout-southern-region-covid-cases-soar-2021-07-31/

Thailand extends pandemic measures, expands lockdown areas | Reuters - Orathai Sriring & Panarat Thepgumpanat: 
August 1, 2021 - "Thailand on Sunday extended tighter containment measures in the capital and high-risk provinces probably until the end of August in a bid to slow the spread of COVID-19 as the country deals with its biggest outbreak to date.... The restrictions, including travel curbs, mall closures and curfews, will be expanded to 29 provinces classified as 'dark red zone' from 13, Apisamai Srirangsan, spokeswoman for the government's COVID-19 task force, told a televised news briefing. The measures will start on Tuesday for 14 days and will be reviewed on Aug. 18, she said. 'If the situation does not improve and is still worrying, the curbs will be extended to Aug. 31,' she added.... Restaurants in shopping malls will be allowed to open only for deliveries, while construction camps can also resume under 'bubble and seal' measures.... The curbs [have] hit economic activity, and the finance ministry on Thursday slashed its 2021 economic growth forecast to 1.3% from 2.3% seen earlier."
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/thailand-extends-stricter-covid-19-measures-until-end-august-2021-08-01/

Indonesia extends lockdown after Covid-19 cases decrease | Straits Times - Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja:
August 2, 2021 - "Indonesia has extended its partial lockdown for a week, after the month-long restrictions successfully lowered the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Java and Bali.... The ongoing lockdown that began on July 3 covers parts of Java and Bali, and 15 other cities and regencies in places such as Sumatra and Sulawesi. It has led to the suspension of most activities and closure of non-essential public places, including malls, places of worship and parks. Java and Bali now report less than half the number of daily confirmed cases reported in mid-July, health minister Budi Sadikin said in an earlier media briefing on Monday. Mr. Budi conceded however that other regions have begun to see surging infections, but noted that these areas were less densely populated compared with Java and Bali, and similar control measures could be applied there."
Read more: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/indonesia-extends-lockdown-after-covid-19-cases-decrease

COVID-19 lockdown in Laos extended till Aug. 18 | Xinhua:
August 3, 2021 - "The Lao government has decided to extend the current nationwide lockdown to Aug. 18 as ... COVID-19 cases continued to rise. Deputy Head of the Prime Minister's Office, Thipphakone Chanthavongsa, told a press conference in Lao capital Vientiane on Tuesday that the lockdown will be extended as the COVID-19 situation in Laos is not yet fully under control and the situation in neighboring countries remained risky. The current nationwide lockdown, imposed on July 19, was set to expire on Tuesday."
Read more: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/asiapacific/2021-08/03/c_1310104966.htm

Coronavirus returns to countries that suppressed it

2nd wave of coronavirus in countries around Asia prompts fresh lockdowns | Global News - Stephen Coates, Reuters:

July 27, 2020 - "Countries around Asia are confronting a second wave of coronavirus infections and are clamping down again to try to contain the disease....

"Hong Kong is expected to announce further restrictions on Monday including a ban on restaurant dining and mandated face masks outdoors, local media reported. The measures, which are expected to take effect from Wednesday, would be the first time the city has completely banned dining in restaurants.

"Australian authorities warned a six-week lockdown in parts of the southeastern Victoria state may last longer after the country registered its highest daily increase in infections. Most of Australia is effectively virus-free but flare-ups in the two most populous southeastern states have authorities scrambling to prevent a wider national outbreak.

"In Japan, the government said it would urge business leaders to ramp up anti-virus measures such as staggered shifts, and aimed to see rates of telecommuting achieved during an earlier state of emergency. 'At one point, commuter numbers were down by 70 to 80 per cent, but now it’s only about 30 per cent,' Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said late on Sunday.... Japan has avoided mass infections but a record surge in cases during the past week in Tokyo and other urban centers has experts worried....

"Vietnam is evacuating 80,000 people, mostly local tourists, from the central city of Danang after three residents tested positive for the coronavirus at the weekend, the government said on Monday. The Southeast Asian country is back on high alert after the government on Saturday confirmed its first community infections since April, and another three cases on Sunday, all in Danang.

"In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte is ... weighing whether to re-impose stricter lockdown measures after easing them saw a dramatic surge in infections and deaths, with 62,326 cases reported since the first lockdown was relaxed June 1....

"North Korean state media reported on the weekend that the border town of Kaesong was in lockdown after a person who defected to South Korea three years ago returned this month with symptoms of COVID-19. If confirmed, it would be the first case officially acknowledged by North Korean authorities.... [In] South Korea ... Saturday’s 113 infections were the highest on a single day since March 31.

"Papua New Guinea halted entry for travelers from Monday, except those arriving by air, as it tightens curbs against infections that have more than doubled over the past week. Traditional border crossing were suspended from July 23, police chief David Manning said in a statement distributed on Monday. PNG has fluid borders with Indonesia, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Solomon Islands with people regularly crossing on foot or in small boats."

Read more: https://globalnews.ca/news/7220628/asia-second-wave-coronavirus-lockdowns/

Common sense on masks

by George J. Dance

For a month the coronavirus crisis brought us all together, united against an unknown, unseen killer. Within a month, though, the virus, and the 'social distancing' policies used to deal with it, had been thoroughly politicized in the United States. The same political virus is beginning to spread to Canada, as well, though far fewer of us have been infected. South of the border, though, it seems almost everyone has caught the political bug. What Republicans or Democrats think about their states' shutdowns or stay-at-home orders has less to do each day with questions of fact about their effects or their ethics; increasingly it depends solely on political allegiance.

Even the question of whether to wear a mask or not has been politicized, after some state governors have made their use in public compulsory. Wearing a mask is no longer a matter of taking care of one's own health, but of "obeying" or "complying" with what the government and its "experts" tell us to do. Forget that they were telling us, in February, to not wear masks; now they've always believed in wearing masks (just like the government in 1984 was always at war with Eastasia). Either you wear a mask, or you're with the granny-killers.

I don't see it that way at all. Wearing a mask should be a common sense health decision, not a political one. That is why I masked up in January, three months before the government started telling me to, back when all the health authorities were saying there was no evidence that masks were effective (something the World Health Organization is still saying).

When the health authorities told me there is 'no evidence' that masks are effective, I knew that does not mean they were ineffective, but that the authorities don't know whether they are; that there are no studies conclusive enough for them to claim knowledge. Which means only that I cannot rely on the experts, but have to use my own common sense (my background knowledge) instead.

By 'common sense', I mean the intuitive picture of the world we all pick up through our life experiences, beginning with our own senses, but also the including the information we've learned consistent with that picture - all of the facts kicking around in our head, which we use to make personal decisions every day. Wearing a mask is a personal decision, which I can and have to make for myself by using my own judgement.

I think COVID-19 is a potentially deadly disease, particularly for a senior like myself. I know it is spread mainly by people breathing on or talking to others, and that it is especially dangerous when those others breathe it in. Two people talking can cut the risk of transmission by turning their heads – still more by wearing masks – and even more by staying farther apart. My wearing a mask reduces what I breathe on others, and also what they breathe near my mouth and nose. I can still get the virus on my mask, hands, and face, but that is less likely and far safer than breathing it into my lungs without one. As well, my wearing a mask tells others I am serious about the disease and encourages them to stay back, further reducing the risk. This may make little difference – I've done no scientific studies of my own – but whatever difference it makes can only be beneficial, for both parties.

As for statistical evidence, I can look at the death-tolls in the countries where mask-wearing during flu and cold season is common, and compare them with ours. Three of those are Communist-controlled, and may not be reliable: China reported less than 1,500 dead outside of Hubei, while North Korea and Vietnam both claim to have no deaths. (North Korea claims to have no cases.) But the non-Communist countries also show low death totals: 900 dead in Japan, 270 in South Korea, 7 in Taiwan, and just 4 in Hong Kong. Those totals are clearly better than Canada's 7,000 deaths and America's 107,000.

On the other hand, I realize that a mask causes one to breathe in more CO2, which is not good for people like me with breathing problems. So I wear mine pulled down around my chin, and only cover my mouth and nose with it when I get within 10 or so feet of someone.

Wearing a mask should be an individual decision. Those who think others are making the wrong decision can also decide for themselves how to act toward those others, whether avoiding them or becoming a woke scold on social media. Owners of property – stores, government offices, or private homes – may make rules for those who wish to use the property, just as they may make rules around wearing shoes; this violates no freedom, as long as those who dislike those rules can simply avoid those stores, offices, or homes.

However, no one has the right to order anyone (under threat of fine and imprisonment) to wear a mask. The only people who should be ordered to do anything in response to coronavirus are the contagious (who should be ordered to isolate, not to mask up). If a government thinks someone is contagious, they can compel him to be tested. If a government is unable to test someone, four months after a disease outbreak, that is solely due to the government's incompetence. Government incompetence should never be an excuse to violate the rights of innocent people.

Kochs invest millions to reshape US foreign policy

Getting Realist: Charles Koch Ramps Up Efforts to Reshape U.S. Foreign Policy — Inside Philanthropy:

December 14, 2017 - "The Washington Post's Greg Jaffe reported recently that the Charles Koch Foundation is making 'major investments' in foreign policy programs at elite American universities, including a $3.7 million grant to Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"That news comes on the heels of roughly $10 million in similar grants the Charles Koch Foundation has given in recent months to Notre Dame, Tufts University, Catholic University, and the University of California San Diego — with much more on the way.

The grants, according to Jaffe, are part of a 'larger effort to broaden the debate about an American foreign policy Koch and others at his foundation argue has become too militaristic, interventionist and expensive.' Longtime watchers of Koch philanthropy won't be surprised here; the Cato Institute, which the Kochs helped found in the 1970s, has long made these same arguments....

"Charles has never been aligned with Republicans on foreign policy. He was against the Vietnam war and more recently ... America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And, as mentioned, Cato has long been among the leading voices challenging the globalist security dogma largely embraced by both political parties.

"To that end, according to Jaffe, the grants are 'aimed at generating new ideas about how America should use its military power and vast economic influence,' and adhere to a 'realist school' of foreign policy that is leery of humanitarian interventions, nation building, or other causes that are tangential to American interests.... The gifts will primarily pay for graduate-level and postdoctoral fellowships....

"Charles' expanding anti-interventionist grantmaking aims to intellectually bolster a strain of thinking that's lately gained steam on an increasingly populist right and has fans on the left, too. While Trump's crude America First rhetoric isn't very persuasive, the arguments made by realist scholars like Stephen Walt carry more heft. Walt, who's getting in on this new Koch funding, has lately emerged as a leading critic of a national security strategy that has America embroiled in multiple wars, with 200,000 U.S. troops stationed in 177 countries....

"The Peace and Security Funders Group (PSFG) and the Foundation Center recently found that conflict, national security, and peace ... funders have made an 'outsized impact'.... Such high-leverage giving goes back decades, but it's typically been supported by donors who embrace an expansive U.S. role in the world, and that's still largely the case.

"Now it's fair to say that such funders are going to have some competition. These success areas are precisely the kinds of foreign entanglements that Charles Koch, armed with an impressive Rolodex and billions in the bank, would like the U.S. to avoid."

Read more: https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2017/12/14/koch-anti-intervention-grants-posen-walt
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Remembering 100 years of Communism

Remembering Communism | Winnipeg Sun - Hendrik van der Breggen, Providence University College,:

November 11, 2017 - "Fall 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the 1917 Russian Revolution, the beginning of a grand experiment in communism. This social experiment had bitter fruit that shouldn’t be forgotten.

"Influenced by Karl Marx, the leaders of Soviet communism — Lenin, Stalin, and Co. (Comrades) — strived to create a utopian society. After taking power, the communists abolished private property and took control of the means of production (factories, farms). Their promise was that state control (a 'dictatorship of the proletariat') would be temporary. Eventually, new men and women would come into being.... A socialist heaven would finally come to earth....

"It turns out that the temporary dictatorship by the communist elite wasn’t temporary. And the Soviet experiment was a disaster.... Soviet communism’s killing of its own people makes Nazi death camps pale in comparison. Whereas 6 or 7 million died in the Nazi holocaust, ... historians estimate the Soviet death toll was 20 million, whereas Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (who lived in the Soviet Union) estimates 60 million.

"Of this total, approximately 5 or more million died at a result of the Soviets’ 1932-33 deliberate starvation of Ukraine.... Millions of Soviets also died in slave labour camps (a.k.a. Gulags, made famous by Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago). Underfed and living in sub-zero temperatures, citizens were worked to death or were murdered in the woods.... [M]any Soviet citizens were simply arrested, tortured, and shot.... for criticizing government or for suspicion of being a saboteur, other times to fill government quotas....

"According to The Black Book of Communism (Harvard University Press 1999), other communist regimes had similar disastrous results.

• China: 65 million deaths
• Vietnam: 1 million deaths
• North Korea: 2 million deaths
• Cambodia: 2 million deaths

"In total, over the past 100 years communist regimes have been responsible for about 100 million deaths (of their own people)....

"[C]apitalist societies have done wrong, of course. (And crony capitalism is especially problematic.) Nevertheless, ... governments in capitalist societies tend to be limited in their power. They protect private property, voluntary exchange, and individual freedoms; they do not tend to murder their own people en masse.

"It remains, then, that the killing of one’s own people has been extraordinarily huge in — and a salient feature of — communist societies.... The 2008 film The Soviet Story (available on YouTube) provides additional historical perspective on the bitter fruit of the 1917 Russian Revolution — bitter fruit that should never be forgotten."

Read more: http://winnipegsun.com/opinion/columnists/remembering-communism
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