User:AWB2021/COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam

First cases
The first two confirmed cases in Vietnam, a Chinese man, born in 1954 and his son, were admitted to Cho Ray Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, on 22 January 2020. The son was believed to have contracted the virus from his father, who had earlier flown from Wuhan on 13 January, when they met in Nha Trang on 17 January. The first cluster also appeared in Son Loi Commune, Bình Xuyên District, Vĩnh Phúc after a few workers returned from a training trip in Wuhan and infected other people in close contact with them. The Vietnamese government immediately locked down Bình Xuyên District until 4 March 2020 to prevent the disease from spreading all over the country, the first large-scale lockdown outside China. Having known cases early is one of the main reasons why Vietnam was successful in fighting the virus. For the first 16 cases of the disease, the medical staff had to treat different types of patients, including infants, the elderly and people with underlying conditions. These preliminary cases were like "an exercise" for the Vietnamese medical system in order to prepare for and study the new virus.

March 2020–2021: sporadic outbreaks and strict measures
When the pandemic spreads across the globe, the coronavirus cases in the country also surged, and on the evening of 6 March, the Hanoi Department of Health confirmed the first case in the capital, a 26-year-old woman who had travelled to Europe. This is the 17th case in Vietnam. On the afternoon of 20 March, the Ministry of Health announced 2 new COVID-19 patients, the 86th and 87th, who were two female nurses at Bạch Mai Hospital with no history of contact with any COVID-19 patients. In March and April 2020, the number of cases increased rapidly due to the large number of people coming from European countries and the appearance of clusters such as Bạch Mai Hospital, Ha Loi Commune in Hanoi and Buddha Bar in Ho Chi Minh City.

After 21 March 2020, Vietnam suspended entry for all foreigners from midnight of 22 March, and introduced concentrated isolation for 14 days in all cases of entry for Vietnamese citizens. From 1 April, Vietnam implemented a 15 days nationwide lockdown. On the same day, former Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc announced the nationwide outbreak of COVID-19. The drastic epidemic control measures had positive results and the country did not confirm any cases of local transmission from mid-April to the end of July. Vietnam began loosening restrictions in May, including resuming domestic travel across the country.

Da Nang outbreak
The country entered its second wave of infection when the Ministry of Health announced the 416th case in Da Nang, which was the first case with an unknown source of infection in 99 days. On 28 July, the Da Nang authorities immediately locked down the city for 15 days. Hundreds of cases across the country with epidemiological factors related to Da Nang were furthermore detected, and the first death was also recorded on 31 July. After two months, by using the same strategies that were used in the first outbreak, Vietnam successfully contained the disease for the second time and resumed almost all economic activities, including international commercial flights. Sporadic community infections continued during November and December, causing public scare and heightened measures.

Hai Duong outbreak
The third wave of infection began on 28 January 2021, when Vietnam recorded an additional 84 community transmission cases within a single day in Hải Dương and Quảng Ninh provinces. Most of these are related to a single Hải Dương migrant worker, who was diagnosed with the UK coronavirus variant by Japanese authorities after arriving in Osaka on 17 January. Initially, the government only quarantined the areas directly related to the infected people to limit the economic impact. But after half a month, the number of rising cases showed no sign of stopping. So, on 15 February, the entire province of Hải Dương was locked down for 15 days, while Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City stopped all entertainment activities. This was one of the most serious outbreaks due to the slow tracing process, mismanagement in quarantine facilities, and people beginning to ignore lockdown rules due to the long period of restrictions. On 7 March 2021, the situation in northern provinces appears to have been largely brought under control when the number of new cases fell to single digits. Along with that, Vietnam started its mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign the next day.

From 3 September, 2020 to 15 May, 2021, the country recorded no new COVID-19 related deaths.