Coronavirus today: How Vietnam is controlling Covid-19?

More than 2,7 million people were infected, nearly 190,000 died (as of April 24, 2020, according to Johns Hopkins coronavirus Resource Center), we are scared to see the numbers increase day by day.

8 days, 0 new infections, 0 deaths - these are also numbers, but they makes us feel relieved. A peaceful week has passed, and the infected numbers in Vietnam have been standing still. While the disease will only be defeated when the specific medication or vaccine is available, this can be considered as a good sign that Vietnam is temporarily limiting the disease.

With the poorly invested healthcare system in Vietnam, there has been an assumption that for a developing country like Vietnam, coronavirus disease would be a dangerous sweep.
 
Statistics show that, on average, in Vietnam for everyone 10,000 people, there are 8 doctors, in Italy and Spain, there are 41 doctors, in the US 26, and in China 18. The disparity in healthcare’s human resources implies that Vietnam will have to struggle much more than other countries if an outbreak occurs. In addition, the shortage of medical facilities raises many concerns. Take HCMC for example, there are only 900 beds were equipped with special treatment facilities, which means only 1 bed for 9,000 people.
 
The chairman of HCMC People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong has warned that 1,000 cases would be a red alert to the city. “Each case requires about 20 days of treatment, and 12 doctors and nurses to treat. So, with 1,000 cases, we will not have enough 12,000 doctors and nurses to treat them,” he said. “This is the red alert. The city would become an outbreak.”
 
However, in the past week, there were no new cases and Vietnam temporarily controlled the disease.
 
With the population of about 100 million, a high population density and a border with China longer than 1,000km, the infected rate in Vietnam is very low (268 cases), the cured rate is high (224 people ) and no deaths.
 
Is this a miracle named Vietnam?

Medical staff in Thu Duc District, HCMC take samples from employees of the Linh Trung Export Processing Zone for Covid-19 testing, April 20, 2020. Photo by VnExpress

Compared to other countries, the Vietnamese Government has acted more quickly and drastically in centralized isolation and limited social communication.
 
On 12 February, when 10 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed, a whole town of 10,000 people in Vinh Phuc province was immediately blocked within three weeks. The second wave was when the 17th case was confirmed. Vietnam stopped all international flights since March 25. Along with that, the majority of domestic flights, rails and buses also stopped. The Government also performed quarantine tens of thousands of people from the epidemic entry region into Vietnam at compulsory isolation facilities. Anyone who leaves Hanoi - the epidemic area of ​​Vietnam - is quarantined for 14 days when traveling to most other provinces.
 
Instead of mass testing like South Korea (more than 300,000 people), the remarkable point in Vietnam's epidemic prevention is selective testing, focusing on isolation of local outbreaks and close monitoring of the F1s to F4s - such as the cases from Bach Mai hospital, Buddha Bar, and Ha Loi.
 
In addition, the government required the closure of schools after the Lunar New Year (from the end of January until now). School has not reopened until April 22.
 
“The Vietnamese government was able to easily implement this strategy thanks to the way of organizing and monitoring society, on the basis of each civil group of about 200 people, headed by a leader. The role of these people, often seniors, is not only to monitor the community in which they live, warn about the dangers, but also to advise and mediate,” stated French International Radio RIF.
 
On the other hand, controlling information on social networks is one way of preventing and controlling epidemics. Sharing false information and fake news about coronavirus is at risk of being punished. About 800 people have been fined so far.
 
The United States provided Vietnam with nearly US$ 4.5 million among its US$ 508 million worldwide support fund to prevent coronavirus disease. This includes preparing a laboratory system, enabling suspicious and event-based surveillance systems, assisting experts in response and preparation, risk communication, prevention and infection control.
 
In response to international support, Vietnam has recently stepped up production of medical equipment and donated these essential items to countries in urgent need, including the United States, Russia, Spain, Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
 
Vietnam also donated masks, antiseptic, disinfectant and other medical supplies to protect the frontline against the COVID-19 epidemic to health authorities in Cambodia and Laos.

Vietnam is one of the few countries benefiting from the US-China trade war. To avoid new US tariffs on Chinese-made goods, multinational companies and many other companies move their factories from China to Vietnam.
 
While Vietnam has been hailed as a country to successfully control the epidemic, China is primarily responsible for this coronavirus outbreak. Many analysts believe that Vietnam will benefit greatly from the "second wave of transition" after the pandemic, partly from an increasingly anti-China attitude in the West.
 
The COVID-19 crisis also occurred at a critical diplomatic time for Vietnam. This year, Vietnam holds the rotating chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and also serves as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
 
The disruption caused by the coronavirus crisis could extend Vietnam's tenure as chair of ASEAN until 2021.
 
If so, Vietnam will have more time to build regional consensus on two major issues related to China: the COC (South China Sea Code of Conduct), and an agreement on water resources management on the Mekong River.
 
The tensions between Vietnam and China escalated in April after a Chinese coast guard sank a Vietnamese fishing vessel, which "defied" the request to establish the two districts on Spratly and Paracel islands of Vietnam.
 
The Philippines has raised the voice to support Vietnam, and the United States criticized China in related incidents.

There is no such thing as a miracle. From the first warning sign, Vietnam did very well and forcefully.
 
But better safe than sorry.
 
The epidemic certainly persists. Like the sinusoidal graph, it could go down at some points, but only when there is special medication or vaccine, it is safe to call it the end of the epidemic.
 
During this time, to keep the dual goals - protecting public health and restoring the economy is not an easy job. However, with what we have done, we can be confident that we can control the disease in the near future.

A Vietnamese government propaganda poster

In the goal of reducing losts and and restoring the economy, all the enterprises should join hands to produce and trade safely.
 
At the Khang Thanh packaging company, the COVID-19 prevention methods are strictly implemented from the smallest things. All employees have to wear masks during working time. The company provides medical masks and cloth masks to limit infection.  

All Khang Thanh employees have their temperature checked before going to work, and before lunchtime. Photo by khangthanh

 

Handwashing sinks are placed at the check-in and work areas to help employees to wash their hands faster and easier. Photo by khangthanh

Besides, hand sanitizers are prepared on each person's desk. Photo by khangthanh

 
In order to implement social distancing, the company also used environmental-friendly carton walls to separate each chair.

Khang Thành also conduct medical declarations for all newcomers or employees who exhibit abnormal health conditions as recommended by the health authority regarding COVID -19.
 
News are regularly updated and shared on communication channels for members to capture and implement.