The COVID-19 pandemic isn’t over yet, especially with new omicron subvariants fueling another rise in infections in different parts of the world. But in Vietnam, where infections have steadily declined, life is largely back to normal.
As of the latest, Vietnam reported 1,275 new coronavirus cases from 47 of its 63 provinces. Over the last seven days, the country reported on average one COVID-19 death daily. It had also vaccinated 142.5 million people, 58 million of whom had already received their third dose.
While wearing of face masks is still recommended around the country, domestic and international travels have little to no restrictions. In fact, Vietnam is already seeing a rise in the number of foreign entries since its mid-March border reopening. Vietnam received more than 101,000 visitors in April, which was 2.4 times higher than the previous month and 5.2 times higher than the same period last year.
All economic indicators are also pointing towards recovery, with industrial production, foreign investments, and enterprise registration showing healthy grown rates.
These signs of progress prove that Vietnam’s “living with the virus” strategy is working. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in March directed the Ministry of Health to begin the process of moving to a COVID-19 endemic path and creating the most effective course of living with the virus without compromising either safety or the economy.
This is further affirmed by COVID-19 resilience ranking released by Bloomberg for the month of May.
Vietnam climbed 14 spots — the highest jump among 53 countries ranked — to number 22, thanks to improved scores in lockdown severity and vaccinated travel routes. Vietnam ranked 36th back in April.
Vietnam, along with Israel, rose the most in May after further easing COVID travel restrictions by removing pre-departure PCR testing and quarantine requirements for foreign travelers, reads the Bloomberg report. It had an impressive score in quarantine-free travel routes, derived from the number of inbound and outbound open travel routes that a place has with the rest of the world for vaccinated international travelers. Just this month, the Vietnamese government scrapped pre-departure testing requirements for all travelers, vaccinated or not.
The country, however, scored poorly in flight capacity, which shows a percentage change in flight capacity.
The new ranking showed Vietnam as the second most resilient country in Southeast Asia, next to Singapore, which sat in 12th place.
Malaysia and Thailand ranked 34th and 35th, respectively. The Philippines, on the other hand, was in the 49th place, among the “worst places.” Russia came in last at 53rd, weighed down by low Flight Capacity and the weakest GDP growth outlook in the lineup — both largely due to its invasion of Ukraine.
Since November 2020, the COVID Resilience Ranking has provided a monthly snapshot of where the pandemic is being handled the most effectively with the least upheaval to people and businesses. Drawing on 11 data indicators spanning virus containment, quality of healthcare, vaccination coverage, overall mortality, and progress toward restarting international travel, it captures how the world’s biggest economies are responding to the same once-in-a-generation threat.