Journalists of the Current Affairs Channel (VOV1) and VOV reporters in Ho Chi Minh City reported on the severity of the 4th wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam last April when Vietnamese people saw their lives turned upside down. Those were unforgettable days for Vietnamese people as they saw the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths increasing every hour, every day.
Journalist Nguyen Vu Duy is the radio series project initiator. He said: “At that time, we thought of doing something to record the unforgettable time for Vietnamese people. All the team members discussed and decided to produce a radio report. During the pandemic, since transportation was restricted, we had to work with VOV reporters all over Vietnam to collect the materials and produce something like a documentary featuring the COVID-19 effort in areas of Vietnam, especially in Ho Chi Minh city, a hotspot during the 4th wave of pandemic.”
The series include stories of people giving an account of what they experienced.
There was pain and loss of lives and property caused by COVID-19 as well as the determination and solidarity of Vietnamese people to support their peers hard hit by COVID-19 in the South.
When the city was in lockdown, reporters faced lots of difficulties travelling to pandemic hotspots, contacting, meeting, and interviewing people. They even risked their lives when working in the isolated treatment areas for COVID-19 patients.
Nguyen Minh Hanh, a VOV reporter based in Ho Chi Minh city, said: “We considered the pandemic a challenge for reporters like us. The biggest challenge for radio reporters was that we had to make interviews, record voices and sound effects but still try to minimize the possibility of infection. During this difficult time, we came up with new ways to fulfill our tasks.”
Duy said “Unforgettable days” is the result of VOV journalists’ solidarity, skillful coordination, creativity and passion for the job.
“It took us lots of time to collect materials, select details, background music and sound effects so that this audio documentary does not have too tragic colors, but highlights the strength of the Vietnamese nation in difficult times and the spirit of solidarity, the help, the sharing being multiplied during the pandemic."
"We think that throughout national development, the Voice of Vietnam is like a person recording the history of the country. This time we are continuing that tradition of the previous generations of VOV to record an unforgettable moment and period,” he said.
VOV’s “Unforgettable days” radio series will receive the National Press Award on June 21, the 97th anniversary of Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day.