Nikkei Asia, the world’s largest financial newspaper published by Japanese media giants Nikkei Inc., has named Vietnam among an Asian trio that has succeeded in limiting the local transmission rate of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) to almost zero.

A medical worker spray disinfectants 

The three Asian countries named by Nikkei Asia alongside the nation include Taiwan (China) and Singapore.

According to the website, the Asian trio can be viewed as rare success stories due to their efforts in containing local transmission by using rigorous testing and isolation methods.

Alongside a 14-day quarantine for all entrants, the nation also disclosed personal information regarding newly infected people, including age, occupation, place of residence, and recent activities in order to allow for the rapid tracing of close contacts.

“This tough response, possible thanks to authoritarian Communist Party rule, has been responsible for keeping cumulative cases down to roughly 1,500,” says Nikkei Asia.

Furthermore, the media outlet reported that last month, Taiwan witnessed its first case of local infection after roughly eight months, bringing the total number of local transmissions to 56.

These represent significantly lower numbers compared to neighbouring countries and other regions, with these results being attributed to the strict enforcement of the 14-day mandatory quarantine period for travelers from overseas.

Moreover, the financial publication pointed out an incident involving a Filipino migrant worker in Taiwan (China) being fined 100,000 New Taiwan dollars, equivalent to US$3,577, last year for stepping out of his hotel room for eight seconds. The incident occurred in November and was captured on surveillance camera, going on to receive wide coverage among Taiwanese media.

In addition to both Vietnam and Taiwan (China), Singapore has successfully contained daily local transmissions to nearly zero through rigorous testing and tracing measures, after previously battling unruly spikes among migrant workers.

According to Nikkei Asia, the city-state with a population of 5.7 million has carried out roughly 5.4 million tests, whilst the Singaporean Government still requires testing every two weeks for foreign workers who reside in dorms. The media outlet notes that, “80% of the population has either the Government's contact-tracing mobile app or a palm-sized tracking device.”

“Encouraged by reduced infection risk, Singapore relaxed some rules in late December, allowing up to eight patrons per table at restaurants rather than the previous five,” says Nikkei Asia.