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Vietnam Broke a 100-Day Streak Without COVID: Here Are 3 Takeaways

VOA News

   The new cases of COVID-19 that emerged in Vietnam's Danang city-- 30
   cases since the weekend-- marked an abrupt end to the Southeast Asian
   nation's 100-day streak with no local transmissions of the coronavirus.
   It was a period of relative calm as people returned to work feeling
   sheltered from the pandemic that is raging outside the borders.Now, the
   new cases leave Vietnam to puzzle over how the virus may have been
   lurking in the community and howitinfected locals, most of whom had not
   been traveling.Italsobegs the question of whether, even with a perfect
   pandemic response, it isreally possibleto quash the virus out of
   existence.

   Here are three takeaways from the small COVID-19 resurgence in Vietnam.

   There is a crack in everyset ofarmor

   First, there is a crack in everyset ofarmor. Vietnam has been the envy
   of many other nations, having responded swiftly to the disease outbreak
   and reported zero deaths from it.However,it is always possible for a
   germ to slip through the cracks. The government introduced robust
   protocols early in the year asitisolated patients, canceled
   international flights, contact traced, and ordered social distancing.
   The protocols are subject to individual fallibility, though. A private
   citizen can forget her mask. A hospital worker can miss a spot when
   cleaning. A traveler can get around borders or other checkpoints.

   "You just need one chain, one screw loose, and the whole machine will
   be affected," Vu Duc Dam, Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam, said.

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