Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong also sent awreath to the ceremony in memory of COVID-19 victims.
The event aims to express sympathy to bereaved families over their pain and loss, and remind people of their responsibilityin the pandemic combat, organisers said.
At 8:30pm, the memorial ritual began. In HCM City, which was the epicenter of the fourth resurgence of COVID-19, pagodas and churches rang the bell, and candleswere lit at public places to commemorate the victims.
According to the Ministry of Health, Vietnam’sCOVID-19 death toll exceeded 23,500 as of November 19, of which more than 17,200were recorded in HCM City./.