Vietnam has reported 0 COVID-19 related deaths with 268 cases after 90+ days since the first outbreak in January.⁠
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A country with over 96 million people, bordering on China, managed to contain the pandemic better than most similarly sized countries with larger economies.⁠

How has the Socialist Republic of Vietnam been so successful in fighting the coronavirus?⁠ (a thread)

• Early on the government made firm decisions to prioritise & preserve the health of its people even if it would come at the cost of the economy.⁠

• The government called for a national emergency after only the 6th case was reported & was fast in implementing social distancing, forced quarantines as well as targeted testing and tracing, with almost 185,000 free tests done so far.⁠

• Information campaigns were started to inform the public about the pandemic, so there was clarity on what people could expect and had to do, including the wearing of face masks.⁠

• Medical students, retired doctors & nurses were mobilized to join the fight on the frontlines.⁠

• There is close cooperation between government, social movements & political organizations like the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, with the prime-minister calling for a "spring offensive of 2020" referring to the military offensive that defeated U.S. imperialism in 1975.⁠

• To minimize workers & their families being affected by the lockdown, the government approved a 111.55 million dollar financial support package that includes covering all costs for workers in quarantine or who are recovering from the disease.⁠

• To maintain food security, the government provided essential goods to neighborhoods in lockdown, installed free rice dispensing ATMs & put a halt to rice exports to other countries.⁠

• It has donated 550,000 masks to Europe, sent 450,000 protective suits to the U.S., donated medical and testing equipment to Cambodia & Laos and testing kits to Indonesia, to show its "spirit of mutual support to partner countries."⁠

The World Health Organization and World Economic Forum have both praised Vietnam for its comprehensive, low-cost model of disease prevention.

While the pandemic showed some rich countries acting selfishly, Vietnam demonstrated there is another cure for the pandemic: solidarity.