Mitigating Trust- Covid

By January of 2020, Vietnam–a country of 95 million people bordering China–acted quickly and decisively, instituting mask requirements against the threat of the Coronavirus; by mid-March, as the alarm was raised around the world, the country had sealed its borders completely. With no possibility of international travel, the government began promoting domestic tourism as a way to bolster its economy.

Its citizenry– lulled by the notion that the country had beaten the Coronavirus with its austere measures– began foregoing masks when flocking to the beaches and nearby communal showers, ignoring social distancing guidelines, photographed here. 

After 99 days with no reported cases, a 2nd wave hit the city of Da Nang, where the virus had been quietly escalating undetected in this beach community.