Despite a long and porous border with China, Vietnam has recorded just 268 virus cases and zero deaths, according to official tallies (Nhac NGUYEN)

Hanoi (AFP) – Communist Vietnam eased social distancing measures Thursday, with experts pointing to a decisive response involving mass quarantines and expansive contact tracing for the apparent success in containing the coronavirus.

Despite a long and porous border with China, the Southeast Asian nation has recorded just 268 virus cases and zero deaths, according to official tallies.

Although numbers tested for COVID-19 are relatively low and experts caution the authoritarian government’s health ministry is the sole source for the figures, they also say there is little reason to distrust them.

Vietnam was one of the first nations to ban flights to and from mainland China and in early February, when it had barely more than a dozen cases, villages with 10,000 people close to the nation’s capital were placed under quarantine.

There has also been aggressive contact tracing. 

One 72-year-old Hanoi resident described how he and a team in his community had been tasked with zeroing in on any suspected cases, falling back on grassroots Communist party networks in charge of overseeing neighbourhoods.

“We go to each and every alley, knocking on each and every door,” Nguyen Trinh Thang told AFP.

“We follow the guidance from our government that ‘fighting the pandemic is like fighting our enemy.'”

Vietnam’s success in convincing the public to cooperate has been key, said Takeshi Kasai, the World Health Organization’s Western Pacific regional director.

“They’re really doing their part,” he said earlier this week, adding he believed around 80,000 people were placed under quarantine.

“I think that’s the reason why they were able to continue to keep the number [of infections] small.”

There are now almost no international flights arriving into Vietnam and the country has been under partial lockdown since the beginning of April.

The streets of Hanoi — normally flooded with motorbikes, tourists and street vendors — have been virtually deserted, save those most in need queuing at so-called rice ATMs for handouts.

The strict controls have apparently paid off.

After reporting no new infections for the sixth consecutive day on Wednesday, the government said some shops and services will be allowed to reopen.

On Thursday a few of the capital’s cafes had resumed service, although the streets were still fairly quiet — perhaps due in part to spring downpours.

Disclaimer: Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Source: AFP.