Philippine media hails Vietnam’s formula against COVID-19
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The article said contacts for any person testing positive for the coronavirus are traced to three levels, and all of those people are tested immediately. Photo: VNA |
The Manila Times, one of the leading national broadsheets in the Philippines, on March 23 ran an article titled “Doing it better: The lesson Vietnam”, highlighting Vietnam’s effective anti-COVID-19 formula.
The article said Vietnam’s response to the coronavirus pandemic was based on its experience in handling the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) pandemic back in 2003.
It was the second country after China to report the appearance of SARS —, as it were — and the first to be declared SARS-free by the World Health Organization (WHO), after only a few months.
“Vietnam’s pandemic playbook basically has four pages,” said the article.
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The article, titled “Doing it better: The lesson Vietnam”, highlights Vietnam’s effective anti-COVID-19 formula. |
First, as soon as it became apparent that there would be a need for them, the government provided substantial financial and administrative support for the development and production of home-grown medical treatments and supplies.
Research on a vaccine began as soon as enough sample material was available to start the work, and Vietnamese pharmaceutical concerns began work on no fewer than four different types of coronavirus test kits. These became available in export-quantity overabundance as early as April last year, and earlier this month, Vietnam began rolling out its own domestically produced vaccine, which according to available data is efficient.
Second, Vietnam employed a strategy of short, airtight lockdowns and restricted movement to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, acting at once to shut down entire areas that could possibly be affected by the appearance of a case.
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Infected persons, regardless of their condition, are immediately quarantined for monitoring and treatment in government facilities, as are all of their first-level contacts. Photo: VNA |
The Vietnamese government spent generously on social support, even delivering food to people’s homes, the article said.
Third, realising that an effective tracing system is the most critical component of the pandemic response, Vietnam immediately developed and implemented a thorough, accurate and centralised contact tracing system.
Contacts for any person testing positive for the coronavirus are traced to three levels, and all of those people are tested immediately.
Finally, the article said, infected persons, regardless of their condition, are immediately quarantined for monitoring and treatment in government facilities, as are all of their first-level contacts.
“While Vietnam is still restricting non-essential visits by foreigners, movement and economic activity in the country is for all intents and purposes normal. The Vietnamese government has even launched an aggressive marketing campaign to promote domestic tourism to boost the economy,” according to the article./.
Vietnam logged one imported case of COVID-19 in the past 12 hours to 6pm of March 23, bringing the national tally to 2,576, according to the Ministry of Health. On the same day, 12 patients were given the all-clear, raising the total number of recoveries to date to 2,246. Among the patients still under treatment, 42 have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 once, 29 twice and 66 thrice. Death toll remains at 35. Currently, 37,754 people are being quarantined nationwide, including 490 at hospitals, 18,620 at concentrated quarantine facilities and 18,644 at their accommodations. The Ministry of Health advised people to continue preventive measures, including the “5K message” (in Vietnamese) - Khau trang (facemask) - (Khu khuan) disinfection - (Khoang cach) distance - (Khong tu tap) no gathering – (Khai bao y te) health declaration./. |
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