From Sunday night to Monday morning, temperatures had continued to reduce sharply, resulting in the appearance of freezing on the top of the O Quy Ho mountain pass. By yesterday afternoon, many areas were still submerged in the thick blankets of ice and frost.
It is forecast that temperatures in the capital city of Hanoi and parts of the Red Delta River will maintain 8-9 degrees Celsius. The mountainous areas will continue to suffer from freezing and extremely cold weather from tonight to Thursday.
Yesterday, a working delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the hardest-hit areas by freezing had a survey visit to check damages related to the current worse weather condition.
Chairman of Sa Pa town's People's Committee Vuong Trinh Quoc said that people in Trung Chai, Hoang Lien, Ta Phin had promptly evacuated over 10,000 buffaloes and cows to safer places to protect their health as well as keep warm for them.
According to Nguyen Thanh Vien, Head of the Office of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ha Giang Province’s Dong Van District, more than 25,000 buffaloes and cows will be in a dangerous situation if the temperature continues to drop. Currently, there are still nearly 2,800 unsafe cages to protect the animals’ health under cold temperatures in the locality.
Tran Xuan Thanh, Head of the Office of Agriculture and Rural Development of Son La Province’s Moc Chau District confirmed that 42 buffaloes and cows
died of the bitterly cold snap and a house was collapsed by a landslide.
The Standing Office of the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control warned that extreme cold weather might occur during this week, impacting 1.3 million buffaloes, over one million cows, 6.2 million pigs, nearly 98 million poultry and 127,000 hectares of vegetable crops and 67,231 hectares of aquaculture farms in the Northern mountainous provinces and a part of the Central region.
As for the capital city of Hanoi and some Northern mountainous provinces, numerous people have been hospitalized due to the effects of severe cold temperatures, especially the elderly and children.
Currently, the emergency department of E Hospital receives and treats nearly 100 patients, including the high rate of patients with stroke and cardiovascular diseases.
Vietnam Soviet Friendship Hospital and other hospitals such as Saint Paul, Thanh Nhan, Vietnam – Cuba recorded a large number of hospitalized patients, especially the elderly with cardiovascular, blood pressure and respiratory diseases.
In order to ensure health safety for pupils, the Departments of Education and Training of Bac Ninh, Ha Tinh, Nghe An and Quang Binh allowed children of pre-schools and primary schools to stay at home until further notice.
