Compared to other ASEAN member states such as Malaysia and Indonesia which have thousands of infections and numerous deaths, Vietnam’s number of cases is relatively low, according to the article.
The country with a population of over 95 million is one of the three ASEAN countries which have yet to report any fatalities from the disease alongside Laos and Cambodia, the article said.
The article cited Vietnam’s Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long as assuring the public and media that there is no shortage of test kits to diagnose the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.
Apart from 200,000 rapid COVID-19 test kits bought from the Republic of Korea, Vietnam has also successfully produced its own test kits which could help diagnose the virus infection in just an hour, the article said.
Earlier, the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada said “Vietnam has successfully conducted tracing via the quick identification of infectious contacts based on the Ministry of Health’s classifications of infected, suspected, and exposed cases of COVID-19 and the rapid mobilisation of health professionals, public security personnel, the military, and civil servants to implement the tracing.”
Other than that, Vietnam has also imposed strict monitoring of suspected infections. The country’s health ministry has worked with tech-firms to develop an online reporting system in which suspected and confirmed cases of COVID-19, as well as people who were in close contact with them, are entered into a database available in real time.
Furthermore, Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications has introduced a mobile app called NCOVI to allow the public to declare their state of health on a daily basis.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) had also applauded Vietnam for its swift response in handling the new coronavirus.
