Amy Searight, senior adviser and director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Washington D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. (Photo:Zing)

In a recent article published on the website of the Washington D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Amy Searight, senior adviser and director of the Southeast Asia Program at the CSIS, has outlinesd Southeast Asian efforts to respond to COVID-19 in an in-depth analysis, in which she heaps praise on Vietnam.

The author said that from the outset of the epidemic, Vietnam quickly shut down all non-essential businesses and schools while enacting large-scale quarantines.

Vietnam’s aggressive contact tracing of positive cases has helped to identify and quarantine suspected individuals along with those who came into contact with them, she said.

The author said that the government has also been able to mobilize retired doctors, nurses, and medical students to aid in the fight against the epidemic, while some entrepreneurs have set up Rice ATMs as a means for providing people with rice for free.

Searight said that Vietnam was among the hardest hit by the SARS outbreak in 2003 which helped it be better prepared for subsequent pandemics. She added the government is highly centralized, unified, and well organized, while monitoring and communicating information to citizens effectively.

Only Thailand and Vietnam have seen the number of daily cases drop, a positive sign that indicates both nations could be making progress in ‘flattening the curve’, according to Searight.