In an article published on May 11, the author said the pandemic has caused more than 4.13 million infections and taken over 283,000 lives. Vietnam, which shares border with China, has recorded zero deaths so far. This is not because of low testing or poor record-keeping.

Rather than lockdown of the entire population, the anti-epidemic teams studied the population, and quarantined and treated those with symptoms and who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. If there was a region with particularly high numbers, it was quarantined.

The article said the multi-tier quarantine system helped the Vietnamese authorities break the chain of infection. The Communist Party of Vietnam, very early, offered a motto “fighting the epidemic is like fighting against the enemy.”

Additionally, the Vietnamese Ministry of Health posed a music video to explain the concept of physical distancing and hand washing. This video went viral on TikTok, where young people created a dance to go with it. Masks were mandated in public and alcohol-based hand sanitizers are found everywhere. Schools and religious sites were all immediately closed.

The newspaper also pointed out that the Vietnamese Government directed the public sector to produce necessary equipment, including protective suits and ventilators, as well as hand sanitiser and medicines. The private sector followed suit, and so did philanthropists who set up “Rice ATMs” to distribute food to those who had lost their incomes. The government set up food kitchens to feed the poor.

The Vietnamese had already begun major preparations to contain the virus, including increasing capacity in medical institutions and for the production of necessary protective equipment, it said./.