On March 18, nearly 1,000 passengers from Europe and 5,700 people from ASEAN countries boarded flights to Vietnam. According to the representative of Noi Bai International Border Gate Police, most of the 1,000 passengers were Vietnamese returning from England, France, Germany, Russia...; a few were foreign visitors. But that is the story of those who wanted to return home and were lucky enough to return to Vietnam after much effort, so what about the Vietnamese who stayed? There were those who really wanted to return but the city was locked down, there were those who could not buy plane tickets, but there were also those who chose to stay.
Stuck in the locked down city
That was the story in Italy when on March 9, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced that the whole of Italy would be placed under lockdown until early April. Italians were asked to stay at home and public gatherings as well as Serie A football matches were banned.
Rare deserted scene in Italy
With this unprecedented measure in place, the Mediterranean country has seen its COVID-19 death toll rise to 463 out of a total of 9,172 cases. The lockdown, which was imposed after a slow government response, has left many international students and Vietnamese residents in Italy unable to plan their return to Vietnam.
Nhu Mai, an international student at the University of Trieste, shared that life is now confined within four walls, all needs for food and goods are ordered from supermarkets and sometimes it takes 2 weeks to be delivered.
Public transport is blocked
After the initial boom that caused supermarkets to overflow, Italians have stopped hoarding goods, so there is no shortage of essentials. If you go to buy food, stores will no longer let customers in; instead, customers will stand in front of the store and order from outside, then the staff will bring the goods and collect the money through the door.
It is known that Italy has also opened many free services for students during this time so that they can feel secure at home such as: opening an online e-book warehouse, free delivery as well as cutting some costs related to studying.
Can't buy tickets in time
Not much different from Italy, the situation in France has also seen many negative changes. Large-scale protests are still taking place in France, specifically in Paris, making many efforts to prevent the epidemic meaningless. Bang Thanh, a master's student in Paris, said: "Up until March 16, French citizens still took to the streets to protest without wearing masks or any other protective measures. It is because of such protests that the number of infections in Paris increased rapidly and forced the government to order a lockdown."
Crowded protests last weekend caused a spike in Covid-19 infections in Paris
Like many other international students, Thanh had planned to return to Vietnam: "According to the initial announcement, Vietnam Airlines will have the last flight on March 25, so I bought a ticket to return on March 22 because if I leave early, it will be very crowded, which can easily cause the risk of cross-infection." That was the original plan, but in the end, due to the hasty lockdown order, the last flight back to Vietnam had to take off on March 17, causing Thanh to miss the opportunity to return home even though he had prepared everything.
People must present their passports every time they leave their homes.
Many other international students are in similar situations and have to find ways to protect themselves from the currently overloaded health system in France. After the lockdown, all French people are not allowed to go out without a pass issued by the local government through the online system. Any movement is monitored by the police right on the street. Shopping activities at supermarkets are also controlled, with only groups of 10 people allowed to enter and stand 2 meters apart when paying.
The streets are deserted...
And have to queue to get into the supermarket
Online learning is also being opened for students and teachers to continue completing their studies because the education system in Paris is falling behind schedule after protests that lasted from the end of last year to the end of January this year and now the Covid-19 pandemic.
Actively choose to stay
Besides those who reluctantly stayed, many people also actively chose to stay for many reasons. Pham Ha My, a PhD student at Cambridge University, said that in reality, her life in the UK was still fine and whether she went home or stayed, she would need to be quarantined in her room, so rushing to the airport at the same time was not a safe option.
British people have started wearing masks on the streets.
Talking about her life situation, My shared in detail her views and thoughts: “Recently, I read many articles about "liking to go into quarantine" or "going into quarantine is fun", but in my mind, I only wondered how long Vietnam would be able to take care of it. The number of cases at home is increasing every day, mainly from people returning from abroad. At some point, when resources are exhausted, kindness or tolerance is taken for granted, gratitude will no longer exist.”
Ha My also added that the British government has now asked people to work from home, avoid large gatherings, and close schools. Hospitals are contacting research institutes to mobilize more biological chemical kits. Some medical departments in hospitals are also gradually being converted into hospital beds so that there is no situation of releasing epidemics or leaving sick people alone. Individual businesses are also receiving capital support from the government to maintain their businesses during difficult times. People are also starting to stock up on food, and supermarkets have a special time fund for the elderly to come and shop.
The streets were almost deserted.
“Luckily, everything in Cambridge, where I live, was arranged quite quickly. Just yesterday and today, there was no one on the streets. Cambridge University has entered the red alert phase today. All teaching is online. The school encourages students to return home but still supports those who choose to stay. Because I do research and mainly use computers, there is not much disruption like when you have to go to the lecture hall. Anyway, I hope everything will pass soon!” – Ha My shared.
The health system has been operating more urgently.
Although these are just three small stories of three Vietnamese students studying in Europe, they are enough to bring a different perspective on the Vietnamese who stayed behind. Whether they actively or passively stay, these Vietnamese always try to protect themselves and look towards their country.
