Nikkei: Viet Nam leads Southeast Asia on mend from COVID-19

After tying for 100th place when the ranking was first published in July 2021, Viet Nam has achieved a dramatic turnaround, ranking in the top 10 for four straight months, the Nikkei highlighted.

Nikkei' index assesses 121 countries and regions on infection management, vaccine rollouts and social mobility.

A higher ranking indicates a more advanced recovery, characterized by lower infection and death rates, better inoculation coverage and fewer restrictions on movement.

Observations from the past 15 months have shown that even countries that suffered major outbreaks have been able to turn things around, first with determined vaccination drives and then by choosing to relax restrictions.

According to the Nikkei, Viet Nam had early success in managing the coronavirus one year into the pandemic, but was then hit hard by the delta variant in the middle of 2021, when it had barely started mass inoculations. This forced the duo to impose draconian measures, including lockdowns.

Nevertheless, the nation successfully expedited its inoculation drives-Viet Nam earned full marks, or a score of 30, for vaccinations in the latest index. The Vietnamese government has dropped COVID-related restrictions and fully reopened to international tourists.

The progress has translated into brighter economic outlooks. In its latest economic forecast, the World Bank raised Viet Nam's annual growth prediction to 7.2 percent from 5.3 percent.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Health reported that as of October 12, Viet Nam documented 11,489,881COVID-19 infection cases. The nation's COVID-19 death toll rises to 43,155 or 0.4 percent of the national caseload.

In terms of the numbers of infection cases and coronavirus-related deaths per one million people, Viet Nam ranks 115th and 138th, respectively.