Japanese media outlet Asahi Shimbun published an article on May 27 noting how Vietnam has been able to stay free of the scourge of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, adding that the nation has not recorded a single death caused by the virus to date.

Vietnam has not recorded a single death caused by COVID-19 to date
(Photo: Reuters) 

The newspaper also noted that with the COVID-19 outbreak raging globally for the past four months, Vietnam has largely been left untouched, despite the country's proximity to China where the health crisis is believed to have started.

The author of the article, reporter Asahi Shimbun, believes that the Vietnamese government’s tough measures to combat the COVID-19 can be considered major factors which contributed to the success.

The first cases of infection detected in the nation involved a family from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the location of the initial outbreak, which was reported on January 23. By February 13, the number of infected patients had increased to 16.

In comparison, by February 14, Japan had 41 cases, excluding those who were aboard the Diamond Princess, a cruise ship that was quarantined off of Yokohama Port and was therefore never included in Tokyo's official tally.

At the initial stages of the health crisis, there was little difference in the figures between the two countries, despite Vietnam sharing a border with China that is 1,400 kilometres long. The Japanese newspaper notes that it even seemed suspicious for the nation to have so few cases.

The article outlined that in spite of low official infection rates, the Vietnamese government moved to impose strict measures, triggering suspicions that the actual figures were much higher. Indeed, the start of February saw the Government halt commercial flights to and from China, with February 5 seeing the start of refusals of entry to all foreign nationals who had been in China during the previous two weeks.

Similarly, Japan began to impose strict entry rules for travelers from China on March 5, a month after the nation.

The article emphasised that Vietnamese authorities also decided to delay the reopening of schools until after the Lunar New Year holiday period, with the reopening of schools being postponed several times.

As a result, almost all schools remained closed from late January, with February 13 seeing an entire village close to Hanoi shut down after six residents were found to be infected with the COVID-19.

Whilst this was occurring, both Europe and the United States were experiencing an explosive surge in terms of COVID-19 cases. Indeed, antibody tests being done in a number of Western countries suggest that the actual number of infected patients was likely dozens of times higher than previously thought.

“We are not in a situation where the number of pneumonia patients is increasing at medical facilities,” stated Hiroshi Chiba, a Japanese doctor working at a private clinic in Hanoi. “I think the Vietnamese Government has been taking the harshest measures since early February, and they have proved to be effective.”

As of March 21, the Government made it a requirement for all new arrivals at airports to self-isolate. The following day, it effectively barred foreign nationals from entering the country.

Since April 1, restrictions on going out have largely applied to large cities, such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city.

With the number of infected cases entering from Europe gradually increasing, the Government moved to aggressively isolate infected patients, as well as those that had previously come into contact with people arriving from abroad, by placing them into quarantine in hospitals, homes, and military facilities.

The Japanese publication notes that the country’s socialist ideology is not the main factor in the decision making process behind the country’s actions, but rather, the measures were deemed to be the most effective way in which to contain the virus with limited medical and economical resources.

The article also hailed the drastic measures imposed by the Vietnamese Government to contain the SARS outbreak that flared up back in 2003, noting that the nation became the first country to exterminate SARS from its territory.