A medical worker sprays disinfectant. Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) Hanoi, (VNA)– International media continue to hail the success that Vietnam has made so farin containing the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 despite limited resources comparedto many countries.
Both the DeutscheWelle of Germany and the l’Obs weekly of France said Vietnam’s success can beattributed to the four measures of quarantine, surveillance, declaring war onthe epidemic and following the rules.
The article on l’Obssaid the Vietnamese Health Ministry regularly sent messages to mobile phonesubscribers giving information on the epidemic’s developments and advice onhygiene practice. The State media have been mobilized for communication work,and the artists also join in, with one outstanding example being the Ghen CoVy, a song meant to increase awareness of preventing the spread of COVID-19 which hasbecome a global hit.
An article on the csis.org website by Amy Searight and BrianHarding said Vietnam, along with Singapore, has emerged asglobal models for early action and aggressive containment of COVID-19. “Vietnam, a fast-growingbut still developing country with far fewer resources than Singapore,also launched a rapid and aggressive response to the coronavirus outbreak thatso far has been highly successful, with zero reported deaths so far, accordingto government data,” the article read.
According to the article, Vietnam’s shared border with China and bustling cross-bordertrade made it highly vulnerable to the spreading of the virus, but the country’sleaders quickly halted flights from China and closed schools nationwide.Vietnam also became the first country outside of China to quarantine alarge residential area when it sealed off part of a provincenorth of Hanoi in mid-February after an outbreak was traced to workersreturning from Wuhan.
It noted the ability of the Communist Party of Vietnam tomobilize society, isolate individuals with symptoms and track their second- andthird-hand contacts, the quarantining of incoming travelers, and the enlistmentof the services of medical students, retired doctors, and nurses.The government has also been predictably effective at policing bans on businessclosures and large gatherings, and it has relied on its network of informantsto help monitor and surveil citizens and report suspected cases.
As of late March 31, Vietnam reported 207 confirmed COVID-19cases, with no death./.
