Vietnam no longer a destination with risk of COVID-19 community spread

In a recent teleconference with the Vietnamese Embassy in the US and the US Department of State, representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) complimented the efforts of the Vietnamese government in combating and preventing the spread of COVID-19, saying that the country has comprehensively carried out monitoring, quarantine, and treatment activities.

Reacting to the actual state of affairs, the CDC has officially removed Vietnam from its list of “Destinations with Risk of Community Spread”. Previously, the list included five countries/territories, including Vietnam, Iran, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. Thus, while Iran has been moved to CDC’s level-2 alert list, on the CDC website as of February 28, Vietnam is no longer on this list.

According to the Vietnamese Embassy in the US, the CDC also plans to dispatch a delegation to Vietnam in late March to enhance co-operation and discuss the establishment of a regional CDC office. The HHS is also willing to consider providing additional support to Vietnam in disease prevention equipment.

Recently, besides the government, many US businesses are also interested in promoting medical co-operation with Vietnam. According to the US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC), among the delegation of more than 40 US businesses coming to Vietnam during March 3-6, there will be some 20 businesses specialising in healthcare and pharmaceuticals.

At the same time, a number of US agencies, including the International Reagent Resources (IRR) under the CDC, are willing to share with Vietnam COVID-19 research findings, exchange experts, and provide testing kits and personal protective equipment for Vietnam to improve its capacity of disease prevention.

The COVID-19 outbreak is one of the biggest concerns at the moment. In the US on February 28, there have been 60 patients diagnosed with the novel coronavirus.