Vietnam donates 550,000 masks to EU countries in coronavirus fight

 

A health worker wears a protective face shield as she checks the temperature of a resident at a health check point on a road during coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Hanoi, Vietnam April 6, 2020. REUTERS/Kham

 

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam donated 550,000 face masks to five European countries on Tuesday to support their fight against the coronavirus that has killed more than 75,000 people worldwide.

 

The masks, made of antimicrobial fabric, were handed to the ambassadors of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain in Hanoi, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

 

Vietnam, which has reported 245 coronavirus cases, with no deaths, said it has also donated masks and other medical equipment to other countries, including China, Cambodia and Laos.

 

The Southeast Asian country last week asked its mask producers to step up their production to make 5 million masks a day.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-04-07

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I'm amazed that Vietnam has kept their number down to 245 Covid cases and no deaths.

 

I know that they closed their schools mid-january, but they did not ban chinese tourists or shut-down the country that early. I left Vietnam 24th Feb. and it was still possible to travel freely all over.

 

Maybe it's propaganda, high temperatures, masks, sheer luck - maybe we will never know.

Among the many reason's for Viet Nam's success was the requirement on-line medical declaration for travellers from 16 March - and which worked perfectly.

11 hours ago, rasmus5150 said:

I know that they closed their schools mid-january, but they did not ban chinese tourists or shut-down the country that early. I left Vietnam 24th Feb. and it was still possible to travel freely all over.

 

Maybe it's propaganda, high temperatures, masks, sheer luck - maybe we will never know.

The Vietnamese actually stopped issuing visas to Chinese citizens in January, while Thailand kept welcoming them with open arms until the 11th of March.

I, too, was in Vietnam when all this went down and there was zero confusion among the populace about where this epidemic was coming from. Lots of restaurants had signs saying "No Chinese", but Westerners were still accepted.

 

Vietnam has a very pro-active tracing and elimination program for infectious diseases, also for the agricultural sector. They managed to wipe out bird flu from their poultry sector recently. Their Covid results are quite believable.

 

Nice touch, Vietnam sending aid to poor  Europe!