Tokyo (VNA) – Japan’s Asahi newspaper on April 21ran a story commending Vietnam’s drastic quarantine measures in the fightagainst COVID-19.
The article said amid the spread of the pandemic acrossthe world, Vietnam has contained the number of SARS-CoV-2 infections. Though it shares a 1,400km borderline with China where the epidemic broke out, its infection rate was very low with 268 patients and no death as of April21 morning.
"Quarantineof individuals who have contact with a case or are coming from a high risk areais definitely a key strategy, especially since people infected seem to beinfectious at the very start of symptoms", it said.
According tothe article, Vietnam began its social distancing in early April. Accordingly,all citizens were not allowed to go out in unnecessary cases and banned gatherings of more than two persons in public places. All shops and servicefacilities were shut down, except essential services such as supermarkets and hospitals.
The orderwas originally scheduled to last till April 15, then extended to April 22 in manylocalities, including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
In earlyMarch when arrivals in Vietnam from Europe surged, the Vietnamese Government orderedquarantine of all those coming in and those who had contact with patients atmilitary-run facilities and universities. Even a building block or a village was locked down when infected persons were discovered, it added./.