- Vietnam reported 2,362 cases of coronavirus and 35 deaths, despite its population of 97 million.
- From previous experience, Vietnam has put in place a long-term plan to deal with the outbreaks.
- Contact detection, strategic testing, clear messages and wearing a mask prevented mass locking.
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During the pandemic, each country implemented its own response to the virus – some better than others.
Countries such as New Zealand, Australia and Taiwan have been praised for the way their leaders acted quickly.
Before a single coronavirus case was recorded, on 3 February 2020, New Zealand imposed travel restrictions on travelers coming from mainland China.
Australia had stricter rules than most other countries, which allowed residents to travel just within three miles of their homes.
In a report for Time magazine, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said the country’s success in dealing with the coronavirus outbreak was “no coincidence.”
“The painful lessons of the 2003 SARS outbreak, which is hurting Taiwan with the loss of dozens of lives, prepared our government and people early,” Ing-wen wrote.
Not too far away is Vietnam – with less than 2,500 cases of the new coronavirus and 35 deaths – with a population of 97 million people, and borders shared with China, Cambodia and Laos.
On January 28, Thinktank The Lowy Institute published an index ranking 98 countries and their success in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Vietnam was number 2 behind New Zealand. The USA was 94.
But it is not praised like other countries for the success of the fight against COVID-19.
Vietnam’s early proactivity and focus on contact tracing helped
Health officials collect swab samples from a member of the media during coronavirus testing at the government residence in Hanoi on January 18, 2021, ahead of the upcoming 13th Communist Party Congress in Vietnam.
MANAN VATSYAYANA / Getty Images
As early as January 2020, Vietnam made its first risk assessment, immediately after a group of cases of ‘severe pneumonia’ were discovered in Wuhan, China.
Guy Thwaites, a doctor on infectious diseases working at one of the main hospitals designated by the Vietnamese government to treat COVID-19 patients, told Insider the government responded ‘very quickly and robustly’.
“Schools were closed and there was a restriction on international flights,” Thwaites said. “The government did all the simple things quickly.”
Kamal Malhotra, a United Nations coordinator in Vietnam, said the country’s success in dealing with the virus amounted to three things: contact detection, strategic testing and clear messages.
Instead of testing everyone, they tested those identified in contact detection. The borders were closed and everyone entering the country was quarantined in government facilities – free of charge.
Kate Taylor of Insider was in Vietnam last February when there were less than 20 cases in the country. Taylor said she sees emphasis on safety measures such as wearing a mask, the symptoms of the virus and temperature control.
The country has never shut down nationwide while trying to curb the virus
Motorists wear protective face masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Hanoi on January 29, 2021, a day after Vietnam recorded its first coronavirus outbreak in nearly two months.
MANAN VATSYAYANA / Getty Images
In an article for the United Nations, Malhotra wrote that the country announced a town-wide quarantine of three weeks last February. Vietnam closed its border and suspended flights from China, the United Kingdom, Europe and the rest of the world shortly thereafter.
When cases arise, areas with the infections are placed on a local closure where no one can get in or out, Malhotra said.
Instead of shutting down the whole country, the prime minister implemented social distance measures in the country for two weeks in April.
At the beginning of May, people in Vietnam were largely able to return to their normal lives.
“The government has taken a zero-tolerance approach to getting rid of the virus,” Thwaites said. ‘Basic measures were applied, but it was not easy. If people trust the government, people do what the government says. ‘
Vietnam’s approach to combating the virus deserves more recognition
A man with a face mask walks past a banner for public health campaigns on January 28, 2021 to stop the spread of the coronavirus in Hanoi.
NHAC NGUYEN / Getty Images
Vietnam has the potential to be a hotspot because of its location and population. But by using a low-cost model and introducing basic safety measures (such as washing your hands and wearing a mask), it could contain the virus within a few months of the pandemic.
No other country of the same size or population contained the virus as Vietnam did. According to John Hopkins, with a population of 102 million, Egypt has recorded more than 176,000 cases of coronavirus. The Democratic Republic of the Congo – trapped in the middle of the African continent – has recorded more than 24,000 cases with a population of 89 million.
Despite sharing a border with the country where the outbreak began, Vietnam’s success story is worth telling.
According to Malhotra, Vietnam has had a better response to the fight against the virus than New Zealand.
“It is absurd to compare countries with New Zealand,” he said. “We have much bigger challenges.”
Malhotra believes that there is a bias against the success of Vietnam because of its system of government. Vietnam is a socialist country led by the Vietnamese Communist Party.
“There is a lot of skepticism that the government does not share data, but that is not true,” Malhotra said. “The data is being recorded in real time and there is no coercion in the measures taken here.”
The people of Vietnam are learning to live in their new normal, but are still encouraged to distance themselves socially and wear masks.
Countries that have successfully controlled the virus have included strict strategies in their plans
People wear protective face masks while attending a public countdown party in downtown Hanoi, Vietnam on December 31, 2020.
Linh Pham / Getty Images
Public health experts said Insider countries that have curtailed the spread of coronavirus have a clear recipe: create a coherent federal plan with consistent messages, let everyone wear masks, and implement comprehensive testing and contact tracing. The countries that do not cage their outbreaks are missing at least one of the elements.
The US does not have everyone.
Conflicting messages from the White House and health officials, especially in the first few months of the crisis, have delayed security measures that could have saved lives.
In the early months, health officials went back and forth about who should wear a face mask. First, it was only those in the medical field and those who were sick with the virus, the World Health Organization said last April. Shortly afterwards, the WTO and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that everyone wear masks when going out in public.
Former President Donald Trump first wore a mask in public while visiting the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in July – three days after the US hit 3 million cases of coronavirus. Two weeks later, business reached 4 million.
Once the US gets its outbreak under control, contact tracing could be feasible again
A health worker with a protective suit and face mask walks inside a quarantine area in the Thanh Tri district in the suburbs of Hanoi on March 20, 2020.
NHAC NGUYEN / Getty Images
The US leads the world with the worst number of coronaviruses: more than 27 million cases and 494,000 deaths.
“If you start getting the number of cases hundreds and possibly thousands, it’s almost impossible for contact detectives to be effective,” Adrian Esterman, an epidemiologist at the University of South Australia, told Aria Bendix to Insider earlier.
Emma Hodcroft, a Swiss scientist studying the coronavirus’s genetic code, told Insider Aylin Woodward in November that the U.S.’s first step should be to get its recovery under control; then matters can return to a level where testing and detection are effective again.
While the U.S. response to COVID-19 so far has been chaotic and ineffective, President Joe Biden has made it important to bring the pandemic under control.
In his first days as president, Biden rejoined the WTO distribution program, encouraged the wearing of masks, introduced a $ 1.9 billion coronavirus relief bill that would provide the necessary assistance to state and local governments, reopened schools, and reopened sent a round of stimulation checks to Americans.
“My first 100 days will not end the COVID-19 virus – I can not promise it,” Biden said at a rally on Dec. 11 in Delaware. “But we did not end up in this mess quickly, we are not going to get out of it quickly. It’s going to take a while.”