The US Department of Health and Human Services has praised Vietnam's medical capacity and close cooperation in coping with the Covid-19 epidemic, VnExpress reported.

Medical staff in protective suit at a field hospital that Ho Chi Minh City set up in its outlying district of Cu Chi for quarantining those returning from China. Photo: Quynh Tran

Vietnam has responded well to the Covid-19 epidemic from the very outset, preventing its spread, Director for Asia and the Pacific, Office of Global Affairs (OGA), the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Erika Elvander said in a recent meeting at the Vietnamese embassy in the US, believing that Vietnam will effectively combat Covid-19 disease.

The US Department of Health and Human Services stated that Vietnam has taken comprehensive, drastic and thorough measures to deal with Covid-19.

Mitchell Wolfe, chief medical expert of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said the CDC plans to send a mission to Vietnam in March 2020 to discuss and prepare the establishment of a regional CDC office in Vietnam.

The US agencies, including the International Reagent Source Center (IRR), are willing to share with Vietnam the results of Covid-19 research, exchange experts, provide test kits and personal protective equipment for Vietnam to improve its capacity to prevent and combat the epidemic.

CDC officials said US scientists are actively researching on Covid-19 to study its nature and propose effective preventive measures. A number of the US laboratories have developed vaccines which are expected to be tested in humans over the next two months and may be ready for use after between six months and a year.

The Covid-19 outbreak has been reported in 30 countries and territories after the outbreak in Wuhan, China in December 2019.