It is too soon to say whether Vietnam – or indeed anywhere – has dodged the covid-19 bullet. But, in terms of infection caseloads, the nation of some 90 million is containing numbers better than anywhere in the region on a per-capita basis.
The coronavirus is not yet a pandemic, but China is so key to the global economy that a Chinese “local epidemic event” is global in its ramifications.
A novel coronavirus is swiftly emerging as a global health risk that will have significant economic, social and political repercussions. The 2019-nCoV, or the Wuhan coronavirus, undoubtedly has access to every corner of the planet – and it is unfolding in a new age of information that will heighten the fear factor.