In January, 2020, the Ministry declared COVID-19 a Group A infectious disease. Group A comprises particularly dangerous infectious diseases that can spread very fast and on a large scale, and have a high mortality rate or unclear causes. These include influenza A - H5N1, all types of plague, smallpox, and cholera.
Group B includes other infectious diseases that can spread fast and cause death, such as influenza, tuberculosis, and dengue fever.
Since the pandemic broke out, Vietnam has seen four waves of COVID-19. With more than 11.6 million cases, it ranks 13th in the world in total infections.