The Impact of COVID-19 on Stock Market Returns in Vietnam

This paper studies the impacts of COVID-19 on the performance of the Vietnamese Stock Market—a rapidly growing emerging market in a country that has to date successfully controlled the disease outbreak. The study uses a random-effect model (REM) on panel data of stock returns of 733 listed companies on both HOSE (the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange) and HNX (the Hanoi Stock Exchange) from 2 January 2020 to 13 December 2020. The study shows that the number of daily COVID-19 confirmed cases in Vietnam has a negative impact on stock returns of listed companies in the market. The impacts were more severe for the pre-lockdown and second-wave period, compared to impact for the lockdown period. The impacts also differed across sectors, with the financial sector being the most affected. With significant government control and influence over the bank-dominated financial system, the financial sector was expected to absorb some of the negative shocks hitting the real sector. Such expectations were reflected in the stock market movement during the pandemic.

Human milk banks in the response to COVID-19: a statement of the regional human milk bank network for Southeast Asia and beyond.

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations on infant feeding in the context of COVID-19 uphold standing recommendations for breastfeeding, non-separation, and skin-to-skin contact, including the use of donor human milk when mother's own milk is not available. INSUFFICIENT GUIDANCE ON THE USE OF DONOR HUMAN MILK AND THE ROLE OF HUMAN MILK BANKS IN THE PANDEMIC RESPONSE: COVID-19 clinical management guidelines in seven countries in Southeast Asia are not aligned with WHO recommendations despite the lack of evidence of transmission through either breastmilk or breastfeeding. The use of safe donor human milk accessed through human milk banks is also insufficiently recommended, even in countries with an existing human milk bank, leading to a gap in evidence-based management of COVID-19. This highlights long-standing challenges as well as opportunities in the safe, equitable, and resilient implementation of human milk banks in the region. CONCLUSIONS: This statement reflects the expert opinion of the Regional Human Milk Bank Network for Southeast Asia and Beyond on the need to revisit national guidelines based on the best evidence for breastfeeding during the COVID-19 pandemic, to incorporate human milk bank services in national obstetric and newborn care guidelines for COVID-19 where possible, and to ensure that operations of human milk banks are adapted to meet the needs of the current pandemic and to sustain donor human milk supply in the long-term. The Network also recommends sustained engagement with the global human milk bank community.

Agranulocytosis Following COVID-19 Recovery.

Clinicians have continued to report on the clinical behavior and characteristics of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as our knowledge of the virus continues to mature. Herein, we report the case of a 39-year-old male with multiple comorbidities who became critically ill with COVID-19 infection, requiring mechanical ventilation and vasopressors, and then developed agranulocytosis following clinical improvement and resolution of symptoms of COVID infection. The period of agranulocytosis coincided with the development of thrombocytosis, and following resolution of agranulocytosis, the platelet count also normalized, suggesting a possible related mechanism. Interestingly, the patient was treated with TBO-filgrastim 480 mcg daily with a rapid reconstitution of neutrophils. While the mechanism of agranulocytosis remains unknown, we report, to our knowledge, the first known case of agranulocytosis following COVID-19 infection and its successful treatment with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor.