The event was held on Friday evening by the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee in coordination with the Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi party committees and localities nationwide.
At 8 pm on November 19, the memorial ceremony started nationwide with the participation of many high-ranking officials, including Politburo member and permanent member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat Vo Van Thuong, Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh and Vice State President Vo Thi Anh Xuan.
Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong sent a wreath to the ceremony in memory of Covid-19 victims.
Thousands of lanterns were floated on a lake at Phap Hoa Pagoda in HCM City’s District 3.
Do Van Chien, President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, called for a moment of silence to remember the people who died of Covid-19. Many high-rise buildings in central HCM City turned off lights to commemorate the victims.
In HCM City, which was the epicentre of the fourth resurgence of Covid-19, pagodas and churches rang the bell, vessels at ports sounded their horns and candles were lit at public places to commemorate the victims.
At the Independence Palace, the high-ranking officials paid tributes to the victims.
Many people also joined the ceremony at Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon.
In Hanoi, Hanoi Party Secretary Dinh Tien Dung and other officials participated in the ritual at Quan Su Pagoda.
At around 8:30 pm, buildings around Hoan Kiem Lake also turned off lights for a moment for the requiem.
