US newspaper lauds Vietnam’s drastic approach to COVID-19

The US’s newswire vox.com on April 23 published an article highlighting Vietnam’s effective measures against the COVID-19 pandemic, affirming that early and drastic actions such as border shutdown have helped Vietnam keep virus variants at bay while growing its economy.

As the pandemic took hold last year, travel restrictions quickly proliferated in many countries. According to one review, never in recorded history has global travel been curbed in “such an extreme manner”: a reduction of approximately 65% in the first half of 2020. More than a year later, as countries experiment with vaccine passports, travel bubbles, and a new round of measures, a maze of ever-changing restrictions remains firmly in place.

But few countries have gone as far as Vietnam, with a gross domestic product per capita of US$2,700. Last year, its growth hit 2.91%, defying economists’ predictions and beating China to become the top performer in Asia.

The author quoted researcher Kelley Lee from Simon Fraser University as saying that under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the Vietnamese Government took quicker and more comprehensive approach to the pandemic than other countries.


Vietnamese citizens return from Wuhan, China (Photo: AFP)
Vietnam has a "very scientific approach", said US economist Sarah Bales who has lived and worked in Vietnam since 1992.

Watching the pandemic unfold in the US and Europe, Bales was among several Vietnam-based Westerners who told Vox they believe the privacy and personal liberty costs during the pandemic were worth the benefits of living a relatively free life.