On a bus in Hanoi (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) –German newswire Deutsche Welle on March 26 ran an article hailing Vietnam’seffective and timely measures in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
The article said thoughVietnam shares a 1,100km -long border withChina, and has a weak health care system and a low budget for combating theepidemic, it has only reported about 150 infections and no fatalities since theoutbreak began in January.
Vietnam hasa done a good job thus far in fighting the epidemic which is raging in manycountries worldwide, it said, quoting a report by the World Health Organisationas saying that in Germany alone, over 47,000 people have been infected with SARS-CoV-2,resulting in more than 220 fatalities.
According to the article, the Vietnamese government had "declared war"on COVID-19 as early as when the outbreak was still confined to China.
During ameeting, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said it would not be long before the virusreached the country. "Fighting this epidemic, means fighting theenemy," he said.
To take thefight, Vietnam mobilised all resources, instituted rigorous quarantinepolicies, and carried out complete tracing of all people who came in contactwith the infected. These measures were taken much earlier in the course of theepidemic than in China, where lockdowns of entire cities were used as the lastresort to keep the virus from spreading further.
For example,on February 12, Vietnam put an entire commune of 10,000 people near Hanoi underquarantine for three weeks. At this time, there were only 10 confirmed COVID-19cases in the entire country.
While Westerncountries like Germany only documented those infected and their direct contacts,Vietnam kept track of second, third and fourth levels of contact to infectedpersons. All of these people were then placed under successively stringentlevels of movement and contact restrictions.
And fromvery early on, anyone arriving in Vietnam from a high-risk area would bequarantined for 14 days. All schools and universities have also been closedsince the beginning of February.
The authorwrote that a majority of Vietnamese people agreed with and believed in thegovernment during the fight.
Meanwhile,the Sputnik radio of Russia on March 26 also lauded Vietnam’s experience infighting COVID-19, saying that Vietnam has set an example in the effort.
Vietnam hadresponded quickly when the disease was reported in China by strictlycontrolling the border with China and quarantining people coming from China andother disease-hit countries.
The radiounderlined that the Vietnamese Government has timely informed the people ofpreventive measures, and Vietnamese experts successfully developed SARS-CoV-2test kits, which are not only being used in Vietnam but also exported to othercountries.
It addedthat the Vietnamese people have the tradition of staying united to striveovercoming difficulties, which helped the country effectively constrain theepidemic./.
The article said thoughVietnam shares a 1,100km -long border withChina, and has a weak health care system and a low budget for combating theepidemic, it has only reported about 150 infections and no fatalities since theoutbreak began in January.
Vietnam hasa done a good job thus far in fighting the epidemic which is raging in manycountries worldwide, it said, quoting a report by the World Health Organisationas saying that in Germany alone, over 47,000 people have been infected with SARS-CoV-2,resulting in more than 220 fatalities.
According to the article, the Vietnamese government had "declared war"on COVID-19 as early as when the outbreak was still confined to China.
During ameeting, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said it would not be long before the virusreached the country. "Fighting this epidemic, means fighting theenemy," he said.
To take thefight, Vietnam mobilised all resources, instituted rigorous quarantinepolicies, and carried out complete tracing of all people who came in contactwith the infected. These measures were taken much earlier in the course of theepidemic than in China, where lockdowns of entire cities were used as the lastresort to keep the virus from spreading further.
For example,on February 12, Vietnam put an entire commune of 10,000 people near Hanoi underquarantine for three weeks. At this time, there were only 10 confirmed COVID-19cases in the entire country.
While Westerncountries like Germany only documented those infected and their direct contacts,Vietnam kept track of second, third and fourth levels of contact to infectedpersons. All of these people were then placed under successively stringentlevels of movement and contact restrictions.
And fromvery early on, anyone arriving in Vietnam from a high-risk area would bequarantined for 14 days. All schools and universities have also been closedsince the beginning of February.
The authorwrote that a majority of Vietnamese people agreed with and believed in thegovernment during the fight.
Meanwhile,the Sputnik radio of Russia on March 26 also lauded Vietnam’s experience infighting COVID-19, saying that Vietnam has set an example in the effort.
Vietnam hadresponded quickly when the disease was reported in China by strictlycontrolling the border with China and quarantining people coming from China andother disease-hit countries.
The radiounderlined that the Vietnamese Government has timely informed the people ofpreventive measures, and Vietnamese experts successfully developed SARS-CoV-2test kits, which are not only being used in Vietnam but also exported to othercountries.
It addedthat the Vietnamese people have the tradition of staying united to striveovercoming difficulties, which helped the country effectively constrain theepidemic./.
VNA
