The Southeast Asian nation has, once again, been a shining example of how to quickly and effectively control the spread of COVID-19.

A COVID-19 safety poster is displayed in a park in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Translation: “COVID-19 pandemic prevention is to protect yourself, your family, and the society.” (Christopher Otis, September 2020)

From the very beginning, Vietnam has undoubtedly been one of the world’s best stories in regards to managing the COVID-19 pandemic.

After decisive action was taken to mitigate the spread of the virus way back in February, which eventually culminated in the decision to ban all public gatherings of more than two people for the entire month of April, the country of nearly 100 million, which shares a long border with China, virtually eliminated the virus from the community. Life was able to restart again under a “new normal” in May that looked and felt remarkably similar to life before the pandemic, save for the absence of foreign tourists and the presence of extra precautionary measures in public spaces.

Vietnamese authorities and society took the threat seriously from the start (likely in part from their experience in containing SARS), took strong action when required, and wound up with an amazing record that included just a few hundred cases and zero deaths for their efforts.

Thus, by May, while much of the rest of the world was still coming to grips with the fact that this pandemic wasn’t going away without implementing tough public safety measures, Vietnamese citizens (and foreigners like myself who were lucky enough to be here during all this) were free to live their lives without worrying about catching or spreading COVID-19 because the government had acted swiftly and collectively from the national-level to the commune-level.

For the next couple of months, people were able to start going about their lives somewhat normally, with a rapidly growing sense of calm and confidence that contrasted starkly with the reality that many places outside of Vietnam were facing. Case numbers slowly rose as stranded Vietnamese nationals were repatriated from overseas and immediately quarantined, but no community spread of the virus was occurring, and life here was beginning to feel like an isolated bubble of safety that couldn’t be touched by the rest of the world’s problems.

Seeing that it was summer, domestic tourism boomed, also thanks in part to public awareness campaigns that called for people to help an industry that was struggling mightily without foreign tourists being barred from the country. Additionally, while many were suffering from the economic impacts of the initial shock of the pandemic and subsequent shutdown, recovery was well underway, and the economy was still expected to post a positive growth rate for the year.

But then, in late July, seemingly out of nowhere, everything changed.

Stories began circulating which claimed that a man in Da Nang, one of Vietnam’s largest cities and a massive tourist destination, had tested positive for COVID-19 despite having no known contact with confirmed patients, which would indicate the virus’ reemergence in the community. On July 25, the case was confirmed by Vietnamese authorities, ending a streak of 99 days of no confirmed community transmission in the country.[…]

Continue reading: Vietnam vs COVID-19: Round 2