Hanoi (VNA) - The first cases of COVID-19 werediscovered on December 29, 2019 in Wuhan, China. Later, on March 31, 2020, theWorld Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.

By now, over 120 million COVID-19 cases and more than2.6 million fatalities have been recorded in 221 countries and territoriesaround the world. The pandemic has pushed the global economy into seriousrecession.

Vietnam has so far gone through three stages of infections,with the first from January 23, 2020, the second from late July 2020, and thethird from January 25, 2021.

The Vietnamese Government has issued a number ofpolicies to help businesses and people gradually overcome the difficulties broughtabout by the pandemic. The country has been a highlight in fulfilling the twin goalsof fighting the pandemic and restoring socio-economic development.

In the first stage, the Government directed the adoptionof early and drastic measures at an earlier time and stronger level than those recommendedby the WHO. From the outset, it deployed the military force to the task ofmonitoring concentrated quarantining and controlling cross-border movement in borderareas. Vietnam also conducted flights bringing citizens home and foreigninvestors, experts, and skilled workers to the country for employment.

In the second stage, response measures were takenquickly, drastically, and synchronously. All localities rebooted prevention andcontrol systems so that pandemic “hotspots” were quickly isolated and wipedout.

With the spread of new COVID-19 variants in the thirdstage, the Ministry of Health led the effective carrying out of rapid tracingand isolation, collecting samples for testing on a large scale and narrowingthe scale of lockdown to mitigate impacts on social and economic life.

The pandemic has so far been brought under control inthe country.

With the motto “Fighting the pandemic like fighting theenemy”, Vietnam has worked closely with international organisations and countriesworldwide to share information and identify strong but rational measures, whichwere welcomed by the international community.

As of late March 23, the country had reported 2,576 casesof infection, 1,601 of which were locally transmitted. Some 2,246 haverecovered while 35 have died.

Thanks to timely and sound direction from theGovernment, the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention andControl, the Ministry of Health, other ministries, agencies, and localities,together with public unity, Vietnam successfully controlled its COVID-19outbreaks at a relatively low cost.

Amid new developments of the pandemic, the NationalSteering Committee and the Health Ministry have issued new strategies.

In compliance with the Government resolution on thepurchase and use of COVID-19 vaccines, the Health Ministry quickly bought vaccinesand provided vaccinations to citizens.

Apart from imported vaccines, the Health Ministry is alsostepping up the research and development of home-made vaccines. Nanocovax developedby the Nanogen company was put into the second stage of clinical human trials onFebruary 26, while human trials of Covivac from theInstitute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals (IVAC) began on March 15. Made-in-Vietnamvaccines are scheduled to come into use next year.

Vietnam has also been a responsiblemember of the international community via providing medical supplies to affectedcountries.

Ministries, agencies, and localitiesare continuing to strengthen leadership and raising a sense of responsibility amongheads of units in the effort. Top priority is given to pandemic control, but thoroughconsideration of prevention and control measures must be made to mitigate the socio-economicand human impact.

The essential but most popular andeasiest measures continue to be undertaken to prevent infections in thecommunity while strict monitoring is conducted to ensure the safety of high-riskgroups in the community.

Entries into the country continue tobe closely controlled, especially high-skilled workers, to prevent infectionsfrom external sources. Thorough preparations have also been made to graduallyresume international flights to facilitate trade.

Ministries, agencies, and localitiesare also working to prevent disruptions to economic activities, especially inaffected localities, facilitating international trade in the “new normal”,attracting investment from major partners, and creating the conditions towelcome investors, experts, and corporate executives to Vietnam for diplomaticand official purposes./.