www.jogh.org • *Equal firstauthorship. 2 1 Thanh HaLe wave: AlessonfromVietnam Alert forCOVID-19 second JOGH ©2021ISGH © 2021THEAUTHOR(S) The onlineversionofthisarticlecontainssupplementarymaterial. Electronic material: supplementary Center forPopulationHealthSciences,HanoiUniversityofPublicHealth, Hanoi,Vietnam Graduate SchoolofCancerScienceandPolicy,NationalCenter, Goyang-si,RepublicofKorea measures werealreadyinplace. transmissions, althoughverystrict its 99-day streak of zero community second waveofCOVID-19,ending Vietnam hasofficiallyannouncedthe doi: 10.7189/jogh.11.03012 Vietnamese scientists haverevealedthatthistype isthenew, morecontagious virusstrain,whichhasbeen seen unknown source of infection in Da Nang C hospital, ending its 99-day streak without community transmission. The countryisbracingforthe second waveofCOVID-19infectionafterrecordinga57-year-old manwithan from 268to415cases[ and quarantineduponarrival without anyriskofcommunitytransmission,raisingthetotal numberofcases ited inJune[ to previousmonth,especiallyinDaNang,oneofthebesttourist destinations,towhere454 April 19toMay18,2020,thenumberofflightsbylocalcarriers was8623,whichincreased73.7%compared ments, school and workplace shutdown, cancellation of public events and gatherings, strict quarantine, so ries of drastic and urgent measures, such as border closure, restrictions on domestic and international move Vietnam’s firstcasewasreportedonJanuary23,markingafierceperiodagainstCOVID-19inVietnam.Ase line withothercountries,VietnamisnowalsostrugglingthesecondwaveofCOVID-19( some AsiacountriespreviouslyknownascontainmentmodelssuchHongKong,Australia,andsoforth.In the nationwidemonth-longstateofemergency endedinMay[ ple beingtreatedinhospitalasof6August,warningthatanemergency maybedeclaredforsomecitiessince since March [ ous levelasthetotalnumberofinfectionsto137inoneweekmid-June,highestdailyconfirmedcases T 1 *, ThiPhuongThaoTran gent coronavirus-relatedrestrictionsaftermonthswithsporadiccases,itscapitalhasraisedthedanger gence of the disease after successfully controlling outbreaks early in the year. As China eases some strin he COVID-19pandemichaspostedanunprecedentednewthreatasmanycountriesareseeingaresur 5 1
]. All new confirmed cases in these 99 days were Vietnamese citizens who returned from abroad ]. Allnewconfirmedcasesinthese 99dayswereVietnamesecitizenswhoreturnedfromabroad ]. After the first COVID-19 curve flattening, Japan has entered the second wave with 12 ]. After thefirstCOVID-19 curve
4 ].
lowing Vietnamtogetinto99consecutivedayswithoutcommunity trans many coastal tourism localities thanks to promoted travel packages. From many coastaltourismlocalitiesthankstopromotedtravel packages. From to operateagain.Notably,domestictravelactivitiesaregetting busyagainin wereable economic activitiessuchasrestaurants,shops,andpublicservices dents aftermorethan3-absence-monthsinceVietnamLunar NewYear. All to a kind that has been missing for months. School reopened to welcome stu mission sinceApril16[ [ to minimizethespreadofvirusincommunityandfromotheraffectedareas cial distancing, and effective communicationstrategies have been imposed 3 ]. Thesedecisiveandrapideffortskeptthenumberofcaseslow at268,al 2 * 1
4 ]. During the 99 days, life was gradually returning ]. Duringthe99days,lifewasgraduallyreturning 2 ]. Specifically,coronavirushasre-emerged in lesson fromVietnam.JGlobHealth2021;11:03012. Cite as: LeTH,Tran TPT. AlertforCOVID-19second wave: A 2021 •Vol. 11 • 03012 764 travellersvis Figure1 629 peo ). ------
VIEWPOINTS VIEWPOINTS 2021 •Vol. 11 • 03012 media.org/wiki/File:Vietnamese_registered_for_rapid_testing_(COVID-19).png). Photo: Vietnamese peopleregistered forrapidtesting(from: https://commons.wiki for othercountries. COVID-19 whichmightbeareminder loophole incontrollingandpreventing Illegal immigrantspotentiallycreatethe a popular tourist hotspot, making thousands of travellers’ possible sources of virus infection throughout the a populartouristhotspot,makingthousandsoftravellers’possiblesourcesvirusinfectionthroughoutthe cases relatedtoDaNangChospitalandtheyhadcontactswithsuspectedpatients.Furthermore,is nam [ in Bangladesh,Britain,andIreland.ThisstronglysuggeststhatthenewcasewasintroducedfromoutsideViet 1. Figure 5th, one temporary field hospital has been built inside the largest sport center in Da Nang in anticipation of conducted extensively for people who recently returned from Da Nang to suppress the outbreak. OnAugust buying foodordrugs.InthecapitalHanoiandotherprovinces,contacttracingmasstestinghavebeen Nang hasstartedimplementingsocialdistancing,requestingpeoplenotgooutunlessfornecessitiessuchas C hospital,DaNangHospital,OrthopedicandRehabilitationHoanMyHospital. ly placedsevendistrictsinquarantineandrapidlyimposedalockdownfourhospitalsincludingDaNang Nang internationalairportfromtheveryfirsttimeaftercasewasrecognized.InlateJuly,Dastrict 6
]. In the next few days, the clusters quickly emerged in three hospitals in Da Nang. All new COVID-19 The cumulativenumberofCOVID-19confirmedcases,recoveredcasesanddeathsinVietnam. government ordered Da Nang authorities to halt all charter flights to Da government orderedDaNangauthoritiestohaltallcharterflights treated inhospitalsDaNang.Torespondtosuchemergencies, the inpatients withadverseunderlyingmedicalconditionswhowerebeing The mortalityincreasedsteeplybecausealmostallthedeceasedwere death onJuly31,whichrapidlyincreasedto21deathsbyAugust15. from NorthtoSouthasofAugust16[ cases doubledfrom416to962andwidelyspread15cities/provinces country. Aspredicted,duringnearlyonemonth,thetotalofconfirmed 2 -
tackled complicated developmentsofthepandemic. Mean of Vietnam includingChina, Cambodia andLaoshave still itive forSARS-CoV-2 [ a Chinesewhoillegallyentered HoChiMinhcitytestedpos have entered Vietnam [ could originatefromtheoutside, asillegalforeignersmay fection ofthefirstcaseinDaNang(insecondwave) 14-day quarantinefacilities?Theunidentifiedsourceofin pended internationalflights,andallarrivalsinmandatory while Vietnamstrictlyimplementedbordershutdown,sus The questionraisedhereiswheretheoutbreakoriginated the COVID-19initsepicenter–DaNang. nurses, andmedicalstudentshavebeenmobilizedtocombat rising numbersofCOVID-19patients.Hundredsdoctors, 2 7 ]. This was strongly confirmed when ]. Thiswas strongly confirmed when ]. Infact,neighbouringcountries 4 www.jogh.org • ]. Vietnam recorded its first-ever ]. Vietnamrecordeditsfirst-ever doi: 10.7189/jogh.11.03012 ------www.jogh.org • REFERENCES
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 doi: 10.7189/jogh.11.03012 covid-19-cases-4146754.html Nga L.Vietnamrecords18newCOVID-19 cases.2020.Available: asia-53690711 Jha P. Coronavirus Vietnam: The mysterious resurgence of Covid-19. 2020. Available: khong-viet-nam-da-hoi-phuc-nhu-the-nao-trong-thang-5-20200526170027637.htm Duong N.HowdidVietnamAirlines recoverinMay?2020.Available: viet-nam-1.html General Department of Preventive Medicine. Vietnam COVID-19 Dashboard. 2020. Available: rience andpreliminarysuccess.JGlobHealth.2020;10:020502. Tran TPT, Le TH. Nguyen, Phuong TN, Hoang VM. Rapid response tothe COVID-19 pandemic:Vietnam government’s expe cessed: 14August2020. covid-19-lan-thu-2-c2-31592.aspx?fbclid=IwAR2Sk4xJpXBlPljT5OcN6iC_Xoz0m2D_VRHujLLtsqWC–rjEcP0wGv–BA http://medinet.hochiminhcity.gov.vn/phong-chong-dich-benh/dich-covid-19-tren-the-gioi-cac-nuoc-dang-buoc-vao-lan-song- Nhan NT. COVID-19intheworld:countriesareentering2ndCovid-19 waveandlessonsforVietnam.2020.Available: of-flights www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/17/beijing-coronavirus-outbreak-city-raises-emergency-level-and-grounds-hundreds- Kuo L. Beijing coronavirus outbreak: city raises emergency level and grounds hundreds of flights. 2020. Available: the correspondingauthor)anddeclarenoconflictsofinterest. Competing manuscript. Allauthorsapprovedthefinalversionof Authorship Funding: 52210-52211, 2020)of National CancerCenter, South Korea for supporting the education andtrainingof Thanh Ha Le. Acknowledgements: A seriesofemergency restrictionswereimposedtoprevent illegalentry.TheCOVID-19NationalSteeringCom that couldthreatenThailand’ssuccessincombatingCOVID-19[ they werealsoconcernedaboutongoingandillegalcrossingamongworkerswhomaybringviralinfections did thison May 2, topreventthepotential outbreak. InThailand, the headofThaiimmigrationofficesaid ing theoutbreak.InothercountrieslikeMalaysia,authoritiesarrested586undocumentedmigrants[ immigration management.Consequently,unauthorizedisaloopholeinpreventingandcombat Most ofVietnam’sboundariesconsistjungleorruggedmountains,whichsignificantlyhindersgovernment South, An Giang province arrested 41 people traveling from Cambodia to Vietnam by sea in eight small boats. part ofVietnam,theborderforcealsoarrested3peoplewhoillegallycrossedintoVietnamfromLaos.In and two Vietnamese, for organizing illegalentry into Vietnam for foreigners.InNgheAn province, central in mid-July.DaNang’spolicehavearrestedonepersonandprosecutedthreepeople,includingChinese detected inJuly[ while, hundredsofforeignershaveillegallyenteredDaNangandHoChiMinhCitybyroad,theywere should considertoproactivelymanagethepotentialrisksofCOVID-19pandemic. lated toillegalentryactivities–mightbeareminderforothercountriesontheoptionsthatgovernments stances. As longas this uncertaintyremains, the critical lesson about the resurgence outbreak in Vietnam – re the outbreak.Nevertheless,countryhasbeenplacedonanalertagain,facingunprecedentednewcircum initial period of the pandemic, Vietnam was praised globally for its prompt and decisive measures to combat lem inVietnam,promptingpublicconcernaboutthespreadofCOVID-19andotherinfectiousdiseases.In Although itisstillunknownwheretheoutbreakoriginatingfrom,illegalimmigrationremainsapressingprob for undocumentedimmigrationandillegalentrantswouldfacestiffpenaltiesaccordingtocurrentregulations. tifying illegalimmigrants,imposinginfectioncontrolmeasuresuponthem.Allactsofassistinginorcovering months, Vietnam has established nearly 1600 border checkpoints with more than 9400 active residents iden to report to the local authorities on any suspected or unlawful entry for testing and quarantine. In just over six to crackdownonillegalimmigrantsfromneighbouringcountriesJuly25[ mittee Meeting immediately enacted the Official dispatch No.3961/CV-BC . Accessed:7August2020. This workreceivednofunding. . Accessed:9August2020. interests: . Accessed:16August2020. contributions:
2 ]. Inparticular, 27Chinesecitizenswerearrestedwhen deliberately immigratingtoDa Nang The authors completed the ICMJE Unified Competing Interest form (available upon request from The authors completed the ICMJE Unified Competing Interest form (available upon request from We wouldliketothanktheInternationalCooperation&EducationProgram(NCCRI . Accessed:16August2020. Two authorsconceptualizedthemanuscript.LTH andTTPT jointlydraftedandrevisedthe 3
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doi:10.7189/jogh.10.020502 . Accessed:12August2020. Đ imposing tighter border controls imposing tighter border controls 10 https://www.bbc.com/news/world- ]. Government asked residents ]. Governmentaskedresidents https://ncov.vncdc.gov.vn/pages/ 2021 •Vol. 11 • 03012 · 8 NCCI NCCI ]. They ]. They https:// . Ac ------
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[email protected] 10408, RepublicofKorea Gyeonggi-do Goyang-si llsandong-gu 323 llsan-ro National CancerCenter and Policy Graduate SchoolofCancerScience Thanh HaLe Correspondence to: www.jogh.org •
. Accessed:12August2020. doi: 10.7189/jogh.11.03012
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