Experts warn of risks to premature economic reopening

A wielder is seen at a factory in Binh Chanh District, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/An Phuong

Reopening the economy is necessary but any untimely decision amid low vaccination rates and high contagion risks could stymie the country’s efforts to defeat Covid-19, experts warn.

"The premature lifting of the lockdown and reopening the economy while the full vaccination rate remains low, new infections and fatality rates are still soaring and the health system is overburdened may even endanger the economy and people’s lives more badly," Nguyen Minh Cuong, principal country economist at the Asian Development Bank said.

But the country stands at a crossroads since lengthening strict social distancing is likely to inflict further socio-economic costs and endanger its medium- and long-term growth prospects, he told VnExpress International in an emailed statement.

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