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May 29, 2020


Good morning! Hello to new subscribers, and I hope you're keeping safe and healthy. The monsoon season has arrived in Saigon, though the rain has been a little erratic so far, with some unusual morning storms. 

I have three new articles out this week: for Mongabay, I wrote about how wildlife conservation groups are concerned that the Vietnamese government has lost focus on expected regulations to curtail the wildlife trade amid the country's success against the coronavirus. On a more positive note, for Saigoneer, I looked at a three-month course at the University of Vinh which aims to train future conservationists, with a focus on stopping the illegal wildlife trade. Finally, I spoke to the co-founder of Docosan, a startup which aims to transform the way doctors and patients interact in Vietnam, for Rest of World

Forgot to mention this last week, but João Perassolo at the Brazilian newspaper Folha De S.Paulo spoke to me about life in Vietnam at the moment - you'll need Google Translate, unless you know Portuguese (I don't). 

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On to the news!
 

Two Critical Patients Make Progress

The British pilot, aka Patient 91, has made international headlines, but an incredible amount of effort has also gone toward treating Patient 19, a 64 year-old woman in Hanoi. She was admitted to a hospital for Covid-19 treatment on March 7, and is still there. 

She was on ECMO treatment for 17 days and went into cardiac arrest on April 7. According to VnExpress, it took doctors 40 minutes to stabilize her. She is now walking on her own, but doctors warn that the disease did a lot of damage to her body, and she requires further treatment.

It is estimated that her care has cost at least US$85,000 so far - Covid-19 treatment for all Vietnamese nationals is free. 

Meanwhile, earlier this week the same outlet reported that Patient 91 regained consciousness after doctors at Cho Ray Hospital in Saigon reduced his sedative dosage. He can reportedly now make simple movements with his fingers, but he remains in seriously critical condition and is believed to still need a lung transplant. Doctors from around the country are expected to meet today to discuss the next steps in his treatment, which has been ongoing for over two months. 
 

The International Flights Debate

Another week without any detected community transmission of the coronavirus is in the books, and discussions over when to re-open the borders are heating up.

The Ministry of Transport has ordered aviation authorities to submit a plan on restarting select international flights by June 10, while the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam must propose "a specific time frame for resuming the flights on a bilateral basis to restore trade and investment activities and revive the tourism industry while ensuring strict maintenance of anti-pandemic measures."

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism is eyeing markets such as South Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan and certain ASEAN members for initial re-openings. These are countries that have largely contained their outbreaks, and they also just happen to be some of Vietnam's largest traditional tourist markets. 

Such steps would require agreements on medical control standards both here and in the departure country, and it remains unclear what sort of quarantine regulations would apply to visitors from these countries. At some point a decision will also need to be made on what happens to people who travel from Vietnam to one of these countries and returns.  

Yesterday, Vietnam News reported that the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control met and suggested that the borders, once open, should only accept visitors from countries which haven't had any new coronavirus cases in 30 days. And, destinations would be limited to islands such as Phu Quoc. If those recommendations become policy, it will be quite some time before even a fraction of international tourism resumes.  

Whatever the case, it's going to be a long time before heavily-impacted countries like the US and UK will be considered for normal flights. (On that note, if you saw the news earlier this week about more nationalities being eligible for an e-visa starting July 1, that has nothing to do with current restrictions related to the pandemic.)
 

Extra Links:

Essex lorry deaths: 26 arrested in France and Belgium (AP)

Riding to the rescue: Hanoi motorbike taxi drivers turn first aiders (AFP)

Cracks Widen for Vietnam's Most Vulnerable (Southeast Asia Globe)

Local Designers Create Typefaces Inspired by a Bygone Era (Saigoneer)

Have a great weekend! (I promise to include non-coronavirus material next week.)
Mike Tatarski
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