Up until Friday (31 July), Vietnam was the golden boy of the coronavirus generation.
Zero deaths. Minimal cases despite a population of around 95 million. Fast and efficient measures to control the outbreak.
If WHO ever had a fetish for countries, it would certainly be Vietnam.
And yet, the question remains;
Will Vietnam, against all odds, remain infallible till the end? Or as Singaporeans would phrase it…
Will Vietnam be able to avoid a fate like Singapore’s, which was in a similar position mere months ago?
Well, as it turns out, the answer’s a no.
Which is certainly regrettable, considering how Vietnam, at one point in time, seemed on course to be one.
Everything About Vietnam COVID-19 Wave, The Country That Used to be a Success Story
On Friday, it was reported that a man, aged 70 and from the central city of Hoi An, had passed away from the Covid-19 epidemic.
Later on in the day, a second death was reported, this time of a 61-year-old man.
And on Saturday, a 68-year-old woman became Vietnam’s third coronavirus death.
All of them have been linked to the hospital in Da Nang, the country’s most popular beach destination.
Which made for a rather ‘sorry’ state of affairs, considering how just days ago, the country was a champion in its own right.
Unlike many other countries, Vietnam chose to act even before it had confirmed cases: it refused entry to almost all travellers, except for returning citizens.
Anyone entering the country would also have to undergo a 14-day quarantine period, as well as a testing phase, in government facilities.
“In Vietnam they responded very quickly, they were able to track the first people coming into the country with it… [they were] all isolated, contacts all isolated,” said Professor Guy Thwaites, the director of the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Ho Chi Minh City.
“They quarantined more than 200,000 people over a period of four months, even with relatively small numbers of cases.”
And the measure seemed to be highly effective, considering how there were no new local transmissions since April.
Or 99 days, to be exact.
