Medical workers take care of a COVID-19 patient at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Dong Anh district, Hanoi

An article in Bloomberg News on July 28 noted that the Vietnamese Government has worked to contain a sudden flare-up in community infections, making face masks mandatory once again.

The same day, Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported that Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered tighter border and immigration controls in order to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The Diplomat magazine published an article that said Vietnam will likely be able to bring this next wave of COVID-19 under control, thanks to its experience and improved readiness in terms of equipment.

“Vietnam has a lot of experience in battling against pandemics, not only COVID-19,” the article said. Vietnam suffered from the SARS outbreak in 2003, and was the first country to bring it under control.

“The Vietnamese Government took measures early on to contain the spread of COVID-19, and it has successfully controlled two previous waves, in January and March, illustrated by its current low case count and zero deaths,” it said
Hence, the Government can be optimistic that with its previous experience it can handle the next wave well, the article noted.

With stringent action, Da Nang may well be able to control the community transmission of COVID-19 and Vietnam will be able to handle this second wave.

The author went on to say that, importantly, this time Vietnam has more advanced equipment, as it has been fighting the pandemic for half a year.

“Vietnam’s medical equipment has improved, enabling it to implement more effective actions on a larger scale to counter the virus,” it added.

Due to the new cases in Da Nang, several provinces now require people, especially those who have come back from the central city, to use mobile apps such as NCOVI and Bluezone to update their health status regularly so that local administrations can closely monitor the pandemic situation and respond in a timely manner.

The article quoted Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, head of the National Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control, as saying that given what it has done so far as well as what it is doing currently, Vietnam is expected to be able to maintain the fight against the virus before a vaccine becomes available./. VNA