I am triggered. I am currently living in Vietnam and I’ve recently been bombarded with “How are you over there?” and “Take care of yourself” messages from family and friends in Canada. I appreciate these messages of course as they show that many people care about me. But little do they know, I am actually in a much better position to combat the virus than they are.
Vietnam has become the first country to fully contain SARS and COVID-19 without any deaths and developed a quick-test kit in one month that the World Health Organization says should have taken four years. Hanoi has quarantined entire streets and the local government distributed free food and living supplies to the people affected.
The World Health Organization is now consulting with Vietnam to get help for the global crisis. Of course, this may or may not be in your news streams. So please allow me to report from the first-hand experience of a foreigner living in Vietnam.
How does a country contain COVID-19?
They start with mandatory text messages on your phone. You cannot opt out of these messages. Think of an amber alert (minus the blaring siren sound). These are sent to the people regardless of which mobile carrier they are with. These messages are also delivered through the popular messaging app Zalo. We receive these messages every day; sometimes multiple times per day.
The messages remind us to wash our hands often, avoid crowded areas, stay at home as much as possible, use hand sanitizers and/or sanitizing wipes, and most importantly, wear masks. Receiving the messages everyday remind us to remain vigilant—that the virus is still here so stay alert.
I am now hearing schools in Canada and the US just beginning to close down. Talks of businesses shutting down or telling their employees to work from home have just started. Guys! This began happening in Vietnam some 5 weeks ago already! You guys are crazy late!
When entering a store, masked employees spray our hands with sanitizer or alcohol. The same goes for restaurants. Gigantic bottles of hand sanitizers and anti-bacterial hand soaps can be found everywhere in cafes and offices. We also carry travel size ones everywhere we go. But most importantly, the majority of people wear masks here.
I have had two conversations in the past 24 hours that greatly angered me. The first was with my cousin who told me that he intended to deliver 1 disposable mask to our grandmother who lives almost 20 km away from him. What the flying f$%&!!!??? When I asked him, “Why not just buy grandma an entire box?” He says, “It’s sold out in stores”. I’m triggered.
There are 2 plausible reasons for this:
1. Hoarders who stockpile for profit (and who are inflicting irreparable damage to their karma)
2. In actuality, the government has not stocked up enough or are not planning to do so (and are doing the masses a great disservice)
The second conversation that angered me was with my mother. I asked her if they had managed to get their hands on some masks. Her reply: “The doctors tell us only to wear masks if we’re sick”. What the actual f$%&!!! Canada, YOU ARE SLACKING!!! I’m triggered.
Saigon is the motorbike capital of the world. This means that it has the largest concentration of motorbikes per capita in the world. Motorbikes are the number 1 mode of transportation in Vietnam. So what’s the COVID-19 connection you ask? It’s masks. People here are used to wearing them. Even prior to the CORONAVIRUS, people already wore masks to protect themselves from fumes emanating from other vehicles and dust and dirt from the road. A great portion of the population also utilize them as a form of shielding the face from the sun. In short, wearing masks is normal. So keeping it on for another reason (defending against COVID-19) is very normal.
It is very easy for people in North America to be discriminated against when wearing masks, especially if our own doctors are telling us to “only wear masks if we’re sick”. This is ignorance at the highest level. If this message prevails then people will be afraid to wear masks. After all, why should they attract unwanted attention by wearing them?
Wearing masks (whether or not you are sick) is essential to defending against COVID-19. Carriers of the virus can be infected without showing any symptoms for days. This means that they can infect many people without knowing it.
Think of masks as a 2 way protection Canada. If you are sick, then wearing a mask will prevent you from getting other people sick too. If you are not sick, wear a mask anyway. It will defend you against those who are already sick and showing symptoms, as well as the ones who are also sick, but not yet showing symptoms.
This is my message to you Canada and the world: PLEASE WEAR MASKS!!
To my family and friends, I am express shipping out hundreds of reusable/washable masks. I am choosing reusable so you can wash them with hot water and anti-bacterial hand soap and re-use again. I will provide detailed instructions on this. I love you all.
Words and Images by Carlos Aster Taguba, a Canadian Expat currently living in Saigon | The opinions expressed here are his own
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