Vietnam and COVID-19: A Joint Effort of Government and Public

COVID-19 is now wide spread all around the world with unpredictable consequences. The pandemic has shattered the health systems across the world.  It is not only a health care crisis but also an economic crisis at the national and global level. At the moment, the world is still under the threat with more complicated movements. However, Vietnam is rightly acknowledged as the first countries declaring the victory over COVID-19 pandemic with only 349 cases, 326 recovered and zero deaths. With a population of over 97 million, Vietnam is hailed as effectively controlling infectious diseases, including SARS and MERS. In the combat against COVID-19, the case of Vietnam tells that even a small country with limited resources can win the virus, with good governance and public support.

Two main factors led Vietnam to effectively and efficiently control the pandemic. Firstly, the Vietnamese government played an active role, and the experience of dealing with infectious diseases in the past certainly acted as a ready template in the current crisis. The government decided to ban all the flights from China when the first case was detected in January, seriously quarantine and isolate in order to avoid spreading to community. The proactive government decision in containing virus clearly shows that Vietnam was not underestimating the problem like many countries in Asia and the West initially did. The government sacrificed the economic profit to prevent the spread of the virus despite having a long border with China and Chinese tourists, considering that the spring festival holiday brings flocks of tourists. The government took extreme action against the threat of the virus, while only 6 cases were detected. For many countries, it could be considered as too early to declare the emergency nationwide. However, Vietnam enacted the policy to restrict the movement internationally and nationally, declared the crisis was national emergency. When the second outbreak was detected in labors working in Daegu (Korea) and the third in tourists who came back from Europe, Vietnamese people totally showed their cautious attitude. People fully respected the government’s effort in terms of movement restriction and protect themselves from virus transmission among the community. For people who came back from foreign countries were forced to be quarantined 14 days with no exceptions in the isolation area. Patients who were quarantined or cured in the isolation area were offered free medical check up. The citizens highly appreciated this action because of its effectiveness in seeking for infected cases, urge the people who have symptoms with COVID-19 to voluntarily go to the quarantine area.

In addition, massive campaign was launched at the community level. Everyone was well aware about the danger of the pandemic. Besides, people who posted or propagandized fake news on social media about the pandemic were regarded as criminal. Most importantly, the government promulgated the social distancing policy at the highest level from 1-15 April nationwide with the principle of every household, village, commune, district and province going into self-isolation situation according to the latest directive signed by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

The policy strictly implemented the directives with the cooperation from Ministry of Health, Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of National Defense in detecting new cases, treating detected patients in hospital, controlling the airport, quarantining people who returned from foreign countries as well as monitoring citizens who were home quarantined. Furthermore, the government released a financial aid package for the enterprises and households who were seriously impacted by the pandemic by stretching the loans, providing financial assistance to unemployed person. In short, those methods helped to build mutual trust between the government and its citizens. According to a survey, Vietnamese people were overall satisfied with government’s policies and actions in combatting the pandemic. The active role of the government was the key factor for successfully containing the virus  in Vietnam.

On the others hand, the public support also played a crucial role in the fight against the COVID-19. Many people had prior experience and had learned the lessons in fighting MERS and SARS earlier.  People was totally aware that  this new virus should not be underestimated. Vietnamese people were aware of the  outbreak of virus in Wuhan, China  – a neighboring country as there are many Chinese living and working in Vietnam. Moreover, this new type of virus was warned to be more dangerous with very long incubation period and have no vaccine or cure. People were all self-aware about the danger, thereby, strictly complied with the government’s instruction to stay at home, wash hand carefully and wear mask while gathering in the crowd or public places. People and the government’s relations acted as a solid rock to prevent the infection in the society. When the government enacted the policy, people seriously followed the order. When the government met difficulties, people voluntarily came forward to assist and support local administration. In this fight against the pandemic, the relations and solidarity among the people played remarkable role in implementing government’s steps to contain the virus. Community solidarity and philanthropic zeal of citizens  to buy masks, foods or medicines for needy people greatly helped and reduce the burden on exchequer. The COVID-19 showed that community solidarity, people’s support and government plans can effectively controlled the pandemic. Now Vietnam is slowly recovering its economy and returning to normal life.  In nutshell, Vietnam’s victory over the COVID-19 pandemic is a lesson for other developing countries. Proactive and aggressive actions by government could reduce the infection rate, thereby reducing the burden on healthcare system. The mutual trust between the government and people is a key to effectively controlling the virus.