The isolation ward for patients with suspected nCoV infection at Da Nang Hospital in Da Nang city (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The Asia Times website on January30 posted an article reporting on the Vietnamese Government’s response to rapiddevelopments of the pneumonia epidemic caused by the novel coronavirus (nCoV).
The story quoted Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phucas stating that fighting the now-global nCoV outbreak is “like fighting anenemy”, which spoke to the need for government-public unity to combat thedisease’s spread.
It said the Vietnamese Government has reactedquickly to fast-moving developments, and there also appears to have beencompetent cooperation between national ministries and regional departments, aswell as with provincial People’s Committees and local governments.
The country has introduced a temporary ban onall tourist visas for people from the affected areas of China, while newsreports indicated authorities had shut at least part of the country’s borderwith China on January 28.
The Ministry of Transport, meanwhile, hasrequested a suspension of all flights to and from the most infected areas ofChina.
According to the article, the proximity of Chinaand the importance of Chinese visitors to Vietnam’s booming tourism sector,worth roughly one-fifth of gross domestic product (GDP) last year, means thegathering health crisis could impact heavily on the economy.
However, Prime Minister Phuc also said that hisgovernment “accepts economic losses to protect the lives and health of people,”Asia Times noted.
As of January 31 morning, 9,805 nCoV cases hadbeen confirmed in 22 countries, with 214 deaths all of which were in China,which reported more than 9,600 infection cases.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declaredthe nCoV outbreak as a global health emergency./.
VNA
