key: cord-0806711-0pychvxi
authors: Thao, Nguyen Cong
title: Life in Hanoi during the Coronavirus Pandemic
date: 2020-05-14
journal: City Soc (Wash)
DOI: 10.1111/ciso.12283
sha: a6f3a121e31544fbb0ccbdf8b44e890189eb62b4
doc_id: 806711
cord_uid: 0pychvxi

nan

course, the key to understanding the city's success lies in understanding people's implementation of social distancing measures, which people in Hanoi have followed with surprising commitment. The willingness of residents to stay indoors was quite interesting to see in Hanoi, which during normal times is an extroverted city, where people often spend most of their time outdoors. How might we explain why people have been so quick to follow orders? One reason is fear. Over the centuries, Vietnamese in general, and Hanoi residents in particular, have had a range of experiences with various infectious diseases, but some of them have historically been linked to cultural expression of fear and discrimination, especially leprosy, tuberculosis, and, more recently HIV. From a cultural perspective, it is important to recognize that these afflictions are not only understood as diseases in the medical sense but are also commonly understood by people as signs of death that are entangled with ideas about morality and fate. For example, for much of the 20 th century, Leprosy patients suffered from discrimination, were isolated into leprosy villages, and were generally viewed with disgust by the wider population. 4 In the Vietnamese language, the word leprosy has become a metaphor referring to those who are dirty both physically and mentally. In many cases, it was not only leprosy patients but their entire families who suffered discrimination in their community, even though there was clear evidence that the affliction was not genetic. Instead, their disease was believed to be a kind of price paid for mistakes or bad deeds the family members had committed in previous lifetimes. This way of associating personal diseases with family history, culture and morality remains and then shared such information to the public without any concern that doing so would violate their privacy.

The case of "Patient number 17" illustrates how this also took on moral tones. Patient number 17 was a well-known woman from a well-to-do Hanoi family who was found positive on March 5 after returning from Italy on March 2 following a period of European travel. After returning to Vietnam, she experienced symptoms but did not initially inform health officials until after having spent several days interaction with other including some high-ranking government officials who were on the same flight as her. 9 Some of those officials, were also found positive a bit later, and the revelation of the case sparked mass © 2020 by the American Anthropological Association. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1111/CISO.12283 7 fear and anger. She was widely criticized for putting her own self-interests above the cause of public safety. Discovery of her case was followed by the lockdown of the entire street where she lived, and thousands of people, not only Hanoi, but also in other provinces, were isolated as they were either F1 or F2 of the patients on this flight. This case not only marked the beginning of the pandemic in Hanoi in the second week of

March, but also set the tone for moral outrage towards those exhibiting symptoms.

In those cases when an entire building or a village was isolated for public health reasons, the F0 or F1 families were seen as perpetrators, subjected to the full hatred of other residents who had to close their businesses completely and had to stay at home for at least 14 days. This attitude made F1 and F2 families feel like they were prisoners, as if their houses had become jails placed under the surveillance of their own neighbors. They had to face hatred, though they had done nothing wrong.

Living under this atmosphere, fear of the disease increased. One F1 case even said on her Facebook account that "we would possibly die because of rumor and discrimination faster than because of the virus." This atmosphere of fear made most people stay at home and avoid contact with others. People accepted and abided by the social distancing policy not only because they cared about their health, but because they wanted to protect their names, their reputations. Within the cramped spaces of such establishments, averaging about 30 square meters in size, it is common for dozens of people to sit next together enjoying various types of noodles, bread or sticky rice. When the pandemic arrived, all restaurants were ordered closed and the only alternative was for people to eat breakfast at home. This turned out to be quite a challenge for the people, who had grown accustomed to being served breakfast instead of serving themselves (and other family members). Schools also closed during this period, and parents had to start cooking, which took a great deal of time to prepare, as people prefer cooked hot meals. This new task consumed at least two hours for parents, especially mothers. In most cases, parents would have to wake up quite early in the morning to prepare breakfast and clean up afterward. Breakfast during this period would often not be finished until 9 am (about 2 hours later than normal in Hanoi), leaving parents just about two hours to prepare lunch. In Vietnamese cuisine, it is expected that even a very frugal lunch or dinner will include a bowl of soup, a dish of vegetable, and a dish of either fish or meat. During normal times, this complex combination can be readily obtained in even the most inexpensive street side vendor, but for those forced to cook at home, it dramatically increased the time spent on food preparation and clean up. Despite the labor involved, many adult household members found themselves feeling less bored than expected during social distancing because they were so busy trying to prepare three meals a day. 

The official response to the pandemic was to mobilize the city as if it was fighting a battle. Community surveillance teams were established at every building, village, and population cluster. Body temperatures were tested at checkpoints located at every entry point. People were asked to wear face masks and to wash their hand with alcohol frequently. Written notices announcing these regulations, and including telephone hotlines, were placed at all public places, including offices, banks, entryways and in elevators. Official public health teams would show up whenever a suspect was reported and administer a quick test and record the results.

During March and April, the pandemic was viewed as an "enemy" (giặc) and this approach was overly proclaimed by the government through a slogan "Chống dịch như chống giặc!" ("Fighting the pandemic is like fighting the enemy"). 10 Public megaphones, which had not been used in Hanoi for many years, were once again used on a daily basis to deliver updated information on the pandemic and to provide prevention instructions to public at the commune level. The city was like it was organized for a time of war, with sirens from ambulance and police cars sounding throughout day and night. All these elements made people stay alert and intensify their precautionary measures against the pandemic.

Fortunately, life was not only grey. The silver lining during the pandemic was the way collective values were revived, not only by being broadcast on the mass media, but also through social networks. Rice ATMs and free food distribution stalls were placed in many places in the city so that the poor could come and received food. 11 The Prime

Minister's call, "don't let anyone be left behind" ("không để ai bị bỏ lại phía sau"), was well heeded by the public. Donation's started increasing to provide as much support to the poor as possible. Food, masks, alcohol and other necessary supplies were not only provided at public stalls, but also delivered to straight to the doors of the poor and the vulnerable by local government or volunteer groups. A warm human sensibility and the spirit of the collective spread in waves to every corner of the city. This brought people together and united them on one side to fight against the pandemic on the other the side.

Differences of social status were removed, and many people felt a sense of responsibility towards helping others as much as they could.

The activities of motorbike delivery people, who normally receive online orders and deliver all kind of goods door-to-door was another factor that made people's lives possible. During March and April, those who wore the green grab uniform designating them as motorbike delivery people, were perhaps the most popular people on the street.

At every entryway to the city's apartment buildings, one could see lines of motorbike delivery people waiting to pickup and deliver goods. This mode of transportation and delivery provided quite fast, cheap and convenient solutions for people who could buy everything they needed without having to go outside.

The persistence of the city's cash-based economy also facilitated an easy response to the lockdown. Most people in Vietnam, including Hanoi, often keep a reserve of cash at home, typically enough to use in at least two months. This allowed them to safely and conveniently buy necessary goods which were sold at small, local neighborhood stalls, where credit cards are typically not accepted.

After 21 days without any local infections, city life has gradually returned to its pre- 

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Thanks to Erik Harms for comments and editorial suggestions on this essay. 1 The average density for the entire city is 9,343 persons per square kilometer, but this figure includes numerous rural districts. 2 The average living area for the city is 25.9 m2 per person, but this includes rural districts. (Gammeltoft 2014, 139,146) 7 A Reuters article cites a range of foreign public health experts working with Vietnamese authorities, noting that they say "These public health experts say Vietnam was successful because it made early, decisive moves to restrict travel into the country, put tens of thousands of people into quarantine and quickly scaled up the use of tests and a system to track down people who might have been exposed to the virus." (Khanh Vu, Phuong Nguyen, and Pearson 2020). 8 On official mass media channels, numbers were used instead of real names to protect privacy 9 https://tuoitre.vn/ha-noi-co-1-ca-duong-tinh-ncov-la-ca-thu-17-o-viet-nam-