Vietnam - a bright spot in COVID-19 prevention

Wednesday, 06/05/2020 16:46
Vietnam recorded no new COVID-19 cases on May 6th morning, making it 20 days in a row without infections within the community. Over the past days, international presses and foreigners have highly appreciated Vietnam’s achievements in the fight against COVID-19.

COVID-19 fight in foreign presses

A German newspaper has highlighted Vietnam’s spirit of peace and national independence during the war, describing this as a decisive factor that led to the success of the country’s struggle for national liberation.

In an article on May 2nd on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of Vietnam’s liberation of the south (April 30th), the Jungewelt daily said Vietnam marked the anniversary mainly online in the context of the COVID-19. The country is screening a 22-episode documentary depicting comprehensively the struggle for national independence, covering the time period starting when President Ho Chi Minh left Vietnam in 1911 to foreign countries in search of a way for national salvation until April 1975.

Health workers of a hospital in Ninh Binh province present flowers to recovered COVID-19 patients (Source: VNA)

The newspaper stressed that with support from the solidarity spirit all over the world, Vietnam’s national liberation movement has proved that history can be established and shaped on the basis of the spirit of peace and national independence.

The article also reviewed difficulties and hardships facing Vietnam after the world, despite which the country still recorded considerable achievements, especially in the recent past.

It also praised Vietnam’s efforts and successes in the fight against the raging pandemic with no deaths recorded and the number of cases kept under 500.

Russian newspaper “Argument and Facts” ran an article on April 30th explaining how Vietnam dealt with COVID-19 and suggested Russia apply its example in the fight against the pandemic.

The article emphasised that with a population of 96 million on an area of just 331,700 square kilometres, Vietnam has recorded only 270 infections and zero fatalities.

Immediately after the first cases were reported in the country in late January, the Government quickly established a national steering committee for COVID-19 prevention and control and all schools were closed.

Advanced equipment, including ventilators, were provided to hospitals as quickly as possible, the best doctors were mobilised, and the number of hospital beds increased, it said.

Tourists from disease-hit areas were quarantined, while everyone had to wear a face mask when going out. Law enforcement agencies traced those who had possible contact with infected patients.

Vietnam also suspended international flights and restricted internal travel by temporarily suspending inter-provincial buses, the article noted.

It added that the quarantine period increased from 14 days to 20 days and even 40 days in some cases. The country applied social distancing measures after recording 60 infections on March 16th.

COVID-19 prevention and control in Vietnam in diplomat's eyes

Israeli Ambassador to Vietnam Nadav Eshcar highly appreciated Vietnam’s achievements in the fight against COVID-19 during an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency on April 22nd.

The ambassador showed his appreciation to the role of the Vietnamese government and people performing in the combat (against) COVID-19. Actually he was very much impressed by achievements so far done by the government and by the country. His family and staff at Israeli Embassy felt very comfortable in Vietnam. This was actually one of the spots in the world which were among the safest.

COVID-19 prevention and control in Vietnam (Photo for illustration /Source: Tuoi Tre Newspaper)

He said that “In Israel we're not as lucky as Vietnam I would say and we have a bigger problem. We have approximately almost 14,000 cases of people who got infected and we have the mortality of about 184 to this morning. By percent it’s not as difficult as other places in the world, however of course every case. The Israeli government is like the Vietnamese government, we acted very fast. We locked our gate, we stopped the international flights relatively early and we are performing all kind of measures like social distancing, closing necessary businesses. It is working to some extent because so far we still have the phenomena of the numbers of still growing. I hope that this tendency will be reversed soon and we'll see less and less cases and more and more cases of people who actually recover.”

Vietnam goes 20 straight days without community transmission

Vietnam recorded no new COVID-19 cases on May 6th morning, making it 20 days in a row without infections within the community, the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control reported.

The national count stands still at 271, of whom 131 were imported cases who were quarantined upon arrival.

A total of 232 patients have recovered or been discharged from hospital so far while the remainder are being treated at centrally-run and provincial medical facilities. Most of them are in stable conditions.

As many as 34,097 are under quarantine or health monitoring, of whom 245 stay at concentrated facilities in hospitals, 10,293 at other quarantine facilities and 23,559 at home and accommodations.

51 medical centres can conduct COVID-19 tests

As many as 51 medical offices have been allowed to conduct tests confirming COVID-19 results, according to a decision from the Ministry of Health.

Medical workers in Hanoi conduct COVID-19 tests (Photo: VNA)

A total of 24 are in the north of the country, four in the central region, one in the Central Highlands region and 22 others in the south.

Currently, countries around the world are using two methods for SARS-CoV-2 tests, including the RT-PCR method, and antibody test, which is often used for quick tests.

Vietnam starts testing COVID-19 vaccine on mice

An experimental COVID-19 vaccine jointly produced by Vietnamese and British scientists has been tested in mice two weeks before further evaluation.

The project was jointly carried out by scientists of the Company for Vaccine and Biological Production No.1 (VABIOTECH) under the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, and their colleagues from the UK’s Bristol University, said VNA.

According to Do Tuan Dat, Chairman of VABIOTECH, scientists have succeeded in generating a strain carrying SARS-CoV-2 antigens in the laboratory, which is considered the most ingredient in vaccine production, helping the body to produce antibodies against the deadly virus.

He said that the vaccine has been tested on mice for two weeks and scientists are waiting for the results to examine the ability to produce antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Next week, scientists will conduct blood tests on mice in the laboratory and send samples to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology for evaluation, he said.

After this stage, the COVID-19 vaccine will continue to be studied and tested on animals to further assess its safety and effectiveness.

According to the institute, it will take at least 12-18 months to develop COVID-19 vaccine that can work safely on human./.

Compiled by BTA

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