Policy Response, Social Media and Science Journalism for the Sustainability of the Public Health System Amid the COVID-19 Outbreak: The Vietnam Lessons

Abstract

Having geographical proximity and a high volume of trade with China, the first country to record an outbreak of the new Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Vietnam was expected to have a high risk of transmission. However, as of 4 April 2020, in comparison to attempts to containing the disease around the world, responses from Vietnam are seen as prompt and effective in protecting the interests of its citizens, with 239 confirmed cases and no fatalities. This study analyzes the situation in terms of Vietnam’s policy response, social media and science journalism. A self-made web crawl engine was used to scan and collect official media news related to COVID-19 between the beginning of January and April 4, yielding a comprehensive dataset of 14,952 news items. The findings shed light on how Vietnam—despite being under-resourced—has demonstrated political readiness to combat the emerging pandemic since the earliest days. Timely communication on any developments of the outbreak from the government and the media, combined with up-to-date research on the new virus by the Vietnamese science community, have altogether provided reliable sources of information. By emphasizing the need for immediate and genuine cooperation between government, civil society and private individuals, the case study offers valuable lessons for other nations concerning not only the concurrent fight against the COVID-19 pandemic but also the overall responses to a public health crisis.

Information on the COVID-19 Pandemic in Daily Newspapers’ Front Pages: Case Study of Spain and Italy

“…As a result, people overcrowded trains and airports to escape from Lombardy toward the southern regions before the lockdown was in place, disrupting the government initiative, aimed to contain the epidemic and potentially increasing contagion. Other literature [10] stresses the importance of looking at mainstream media coverage pointing out the importance of a high quality scientific journalism [11].…”

COVID‐19‐related stigma and its association with mental health of health‐care workers after quarantine in Vietnam

“…8 The success of outbreak containment in Vietnam has been due to the government's early and constantly aggressive approach (including zoning, isolating, and quarantining all infected people and their close contacts 2 ) as well as its traditional and modern mass media campaign to improve the awareness of all citizens. 9 This may have inadvertently increased the likelihood of stigmatization of people after quarantine regardless of their infection status. In frontline HCW, the negative impacts could be more serious as they are receiving greater attention in the press and mass media.…”

The COVID-19 containment in Vietnam: What are we doing?

“…Therefore, Vietnam did well to use 'the golden time' to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. While the recent study by La et al [2] emphasized the role of official news from the newspaper, socioeconomic aspects, and academic research, this viewpoint will offer more insights about the "nudging behaviors", which are widely applied in behavioral and health economics to call people to do things right. Instead of causing the mass panic, the Vietnam authorities launched the COVID-19 video going viral as a prevention message.…”