I'm an expat in the HCMC. I remember significant amount of skepticism by the beginning of the outbreak around COVID-19 related news, as both expats and locals suspected state censorship involved, like it happened in China about a month before. However, by the 2nd week of quarantine, even skeptics had to admit that outbreak has been handled with the same efficiency as in Taiwan or New Zealand. By that moment borders are still closed, and it's hard to back to my home country, however, being able to walk without a mask and a constant fear to get infected really worth a lot. My sincere gratitude to Vietnamese health officials and medical workers who made it possible.

Of course, significant part of the success belongs to people who were following social distancing rules, wearing masks (which is almost a part of Asian culture), businesses that were closed on an early stage of outbreak - measures that other countries were very hesitant to do. And that successful handling of the pandemic has already brought significant benefits to the state, as international investors and manufacturers consider moving to Vietnam from China, something they were looking forward to, as China's biggest competitor in the region.