Foreigners join COVID-19 fight

Hanoi (VNA) - Many foreigners in Vietnam have joined hands with local people in the fight against COVID-19 since the recent second outbreak began in late July.

Wayne Worrell, 54, a British teacher living and working in Vietnam for more than 10 years, and some of his friends decided to conduct a campaign to present free face masks to others to help raise awareness about protecting their health and the health of the entire community.

He said that when Hanoi reported its first case of infection, who had returned from the hotspot Da Nang, he went out and saw many people not wearing face masks. He thought he had to do something to raise public consciousness.

Wayne and his friends, including Vietnamese and foreigners, made a collage of many small pictures showing them wearing face masks to spread a message of how important face masks are.


After the collage was shared widely on social networks, he thought about other practical measures to adopt, and contacted medical supply and equipment providers about his idea of distributing face masks in the community.

Hoang Thi Nhu Phuong from the P&U Vietnam Joint Stock Company, which is providing free face masks for Wayne’s campaign, said that after listening to his initiative the company decided to provide thousands of face masks to fight COVID-19.

On the first day of the campaign, Wayne and his friends walked around the streets of Hanoi handing out nearly 300 face masks and reminding people to wear them when going out.

Chelsea Ann Kerbaugh, an American involved in the campaign, said there are many foreigners living and working in Vietnam and they are keen to join hands with local people.

Of a similar mind, Daina Raiskuma from Latvia, who owns a café in Hanoi, said she joined the campaign because she believes it’s a significant effort. “No matter who you are or where you come from, as long as we are united, small efforts together make a big difference,” she said./.