The year in review: top news stories in Vietnam in 2020

The year 2020 has been widely acknowledged as a god-awful year, and we won’t argue that the virus that plagued the world has been much fun for anyone, but it wasn’t all bad. Here is Chào’s look back at the key stories that made the headlines in Vietnam over the last 12 months.

1.       January

• Vietnam saw its very first cases of Covid-19  
• People blocked garbage trucks from entering Nam Son landfill
• Viettel made the first 5G call on a device manufactured by Viettel

2.       February

• U.S. magazine Forbes listed Whale Island in Nha Trang among as one of the world’s 10 must-visit diving destinations
• Vietnam’s “Ghen Co Vy” Covid safety song became famous throughout the world, later starting  a viral Tik Tok washing hands challenge 
• Vietnam performed world’s first transplant of a living donor’s hand
• The nation’s youth start a crazy trend for dating their rice cookers

3.       March

• Infamous Patient 17 arrived in Vietnam, briefly becoming the nation’s most hated figure
• The country literally launders money with disinfectant to curb the virus
• Vietnam announces a two-week quarantine for all people entering the country

4.       April

• Free rice ATMs were created for the poor during Covid-crisis
• The country goes into lockdown due to the coronavirus crisis
• Hanoi announces fines for people that leave their homes for non-essential reasons

5.       May

• The country goes a full month without a single domestic case of Covid
• 1 student is killed and 12 injured by fallen tree at a school
• Two Vietnamese citizens register to donate their lungs to a severely ill British pilot

6.       June

• The Cat Linh – Ha Dong railway project yet to determine inaugural date after nearly 10 years of construction
• The capital goes into hysterics when a mounted police force is launched with what look like midget horses
• Hanoi lays out plans for 30 new bus routes

7.       July

• Vietnam successfully performs the separation of conjoined twins 
• After things had been quiet for months, a second wave of Covid starts in Vietnam
• The country has its very first Covid death

8.       August

• Announced that Vietnamese high schoolers score worst in English
• A trend for Rap in Vietnam surges with two rap shows King of Rap and Rap Viet
• Some dodgy vegan pate causes a large food poisoning outbreak

9.       September

• More than 300,000 used condoms are reportedly recycled for sale
• Trial of seven defendants related to the case of 39 Vietnamese who died in containers in the UK
• The country sets five culinary world records

10.   October

• Central Vietnam floods start: hundreds die, hundreds missing
• A Vietnamese man sells his girlfriend to Chinese traffickers for 15 million VND
• Vietnam performs first successful intestinal transplant

11.   November

• Vietnam launches its first AI robot 
• First Vietnamese teacher among the 2020 Global Teacher Prize 
• First person to have a liver transplant in Vietnam dies aged 25

12.   December

• First Covid patient to face criminal charges for spreading the infection
• Vietnam started testing Covid-19 vaccine in humans
• United States accuses Vietnam of currency manipulation

There you have it: a few nice moments in a year that was utterly dominated by a bloody bug ravaging the planet. But we came through it and SURELY 2021 will be better. Here at Chào, we wish everyone in Hanoi and beyond a very Happy New Year!

Main image courtesy of Tyler Roney.