With 5 million recorded COVID-19  infections and 160,000 deaths, the coronavirus has paralyzed the United States…the richest, most powerful country in the world. We know it was preventable because at the same time, some countries with far fewer resources have kept infection and death rates remarkably low. Even with its close proximity to China, where the pandemic started, parts of Southeast Asia have managed to control the coronavirus far better than the US and Europe. What are Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar doing that the rest of the world finds itself unable to do? In this episode, we hear from New York Times Southeast Asia Bureau Chief Hannah Beech, Country Director for the Partnership for Health Advancement in Vietnam Dr. Todd Pollock and Director of the Oxford University clinical research unit in Vietnam Guy Thwaites about the quick decision making that went into these countries’ successes. What can we learn from them?

 

Guests:

Hannah Beech, NYTimes Southeast Asia Bureau Chief, based in Bangkok, Thailand @hkbeech

Dr. Todd Pollock, Country Director for the Partnership for Health Advancement in Vietnam @toddmpollack

Guy Thwaites, Professor of infectious diseases and the director of the Oxford University clinical research unit in Vietnam @ThwaitesGuy

 

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