Vietnam To Evacuate 80,000 People After 3 Residents Test Positive of Coronavirus

• Vietnam is evacuating 80,000 people – who are mostly tourists -from the city of Da Nang after 3 locals tested positive of Covid-19.
• The government has also ramped up its efforts to conduct contact tracing and testing.

The government of Vietnam is taking drastic measures to prevent a potential new outbreak. According to latest reports, 3 new local transmissions of the coronavirus has been detected in the country and now they’re evacuating 80,000 tourists and residents from a resort located in Da Nang City.

The new confirmed cases of the dreaded disease marks as the first ones after the numbers dropped down to zero after 100 days. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc commanded immediate contact tracing efforts and widespread testing.

Life has returned to normal in Vietnam since April – and that recently changed after local transmissions were discovered again.

The borders of Da Nang has since been shut down for inbound domestic tourists. Meanwhile, 80,000 people – who are mostly tourists themselves – will be evacuated through domestic flights to 11 cities in the country in the next 4 days and those returning from Da Nang will have to undergo a mandatory 14-day home quarantine.

Authorities have also reminded the public to observe strict social distancing measures and wear masks in public places. Large gatherings of over 30 people have also been banned in the city.

Vietnam has often been praised by the international community for its success in managing the coronavirus crisis.

The country has earned a good reputation for its swift action in implementing restrictions as well as boosting its contact tracing and testing efforts.

In April, the country has only recorded a total of 300 Covid-19 cases and 0 deaths so far.

Currently based in Hanoi, Dr Todd Pollack of Harvard’s Partnership for Health Advancement in Vietnam said:

“When you’re dealing with these kinds of unknown novel potentially dangerous pathogens, it’s better to overreact.”

Oxford University Clinical Research Unit director Prof Guy Thwaites likewise pointed out:

“It very, very quickly acted in ways which seemed to be quite extreme at the time but were subsequently shown to be rather sensible.”