Ministry of Education and Training
UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

A POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT ESSAY

TOPIC: RESEARCH ON THE
VIETNAMESE’S ACTIONS TO
PROTECT THEMSELVES DURING THE
FIRST WAVE OF THE COVID-19
OUTBREAK
Instructor:

Vo Thanh Tam

Class:

NS001

Group:

Group 4:

Ho Chi Minh City
November, 2020


Contents


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused great economic and spiritual damage

to the whole country in general and each Vietnamese person in particular.
However, all the Vietnamese had cooperated to fight back against COVID19.
The study provides a glimpse into the Vietnamese’s action to protect
themselves, their families and society during the first wave of the epidemic,
when the COVID-19 pandemic was spreading globally with morbidity and
mortality rate continued to increase. Methods of analysis include chart,
rate, figure as well as text analyses. The result data shows that most of the
precaution measures were carried out earnestly, with 99.5% of Vietnamese
were masked when going out, about 59% chose to shop online,45%
stocked more food at home and many decided to workout at home to stay
healthy throughout the lockdown.
The research came to the conclusion that while the whole nation was
affected severely by the disease, the Vietnamese had adapted well and took
actions to prevent the spreading of the virus.
We also genuinely point out the fact that this research has many
limitations. Some of them include:
•
The analysis data were not conducted by ourselves but extracted
from many sources which had different conducted dates
•

Some figures do not provide enough information or enough details

3


INTRODUCTION
Covid-19, also known as the Coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2, is a new
respiratory virus that causes acute respiratory inflammation in humans
and can be transmitted from people to people. Infected people who have

symptoms of fever cough, and shortness of breath and even develop higher,
leading to pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, septic, septic
shock and can be fatal. The first confirmed positive case was at the end of
December 2019 in Wuhan city, located in central China, from a group of
people with unclear pneumonia. The virus rapidly transmitted throughout
China and many other countries around the world. On March 11, 2020, the
world health organization (WHO) declared the Covid-19 outbreak a global
pandemic.
Faced with such a dangerous global pandemic, the government and people
all around the world had different reactions. Vietnam was one of the few
countries that had controlled COVID-19 well with only 352 cases and no
deaths in the first wave of the disease. To achieve such an impressive
result, how did Vietnamese people protect themselves? Had there been any
changes in people's living habits when the epidemic happened? With the
desire to learn more about this issue, our team chose the topic, "Research
on the Vietnamese’s actions to protect themselves during the first wave of
Covid-19 outbreak (from 23-January-2020 to 25-June-2020)”.

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1.COVID-19 EPIDEMIC IN VIETNAM
1.1.Important milestone
Stage 1: 16 first cases
On January 23, 2020 (ie 29 Tet
Canh Ty), Vietnam officially
entered the war against Covid19. Cho Ray Hospital (HCMC)
confirmed the first two Covid19 patients in Vietnam, who
were father and son, from
Wuhan, China.

On February 12, 2020, Vinh
Phuc province decided to
isolate the entire Son Loi
commune.
Stage 2: The cases of
imported diseases from
abroad
On March 6, 2020, the
government announced the
first case in Hanoi, which was
the 17th patient in Vietnam.
March 10, 2020: appeared a
"super infectious" patient in
Binh Thuan - the 34th patient
in Vietnam. The patient
returned from the US and
landed at Tan Son Nhat airport,
then took a private car to Phan
Thiet, infecting 11 other
people.
On March 17, 2020, Vietnam
temporarily stopped issuing visas
for foreigners entering. On March

5


21, Vietnam temporarily stopped
entering foreign visitors.
Stage 3: The risk of spreading in the community

Picture 1.Covid
19 pandemic
timeline
March
20, 2020:
The Ministry of Health announces that two nurses from

the Tropical Diseases Center, Bach Mai Hospital, infected with Covid-19,
are the 86th and 87th patients in Vietnam, respectively.
March 28, 2020: Bach Mai Hospital was on lockdown
March 31, 2020: The Prime Minister promulgates Directive No. 16 on the
isolation of the entire society nationwide within 15 days to prevent Covid19 from 0:00 on April 1. On April 15, the social isolation was prolonged
from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and some high-risk provinces.
After stage 3
From April 23, 2020, the whole country basically stopped social isolation
but still continued to ensure epidemic prevention rules.
April 25, 2020: The Prime Minister issued Directive 19 to continue
measures to prevent and control COVID-19 epidemics in the new situation.

1.2.Comment
Covid 19 is divided into 3 stages in our country with each stage being even
more dangerous than the previous one, from the first 16 cases of infection
in stage 1 to a total of 270 cases in stage 3, the most dangerous stage was
stage 3 with more than 187 newly discovered cases in the community. The
long-term epidemic had caused many economic and mental problems to
many people. At the same time, people join hands to help our country
combat the pandemic in their own way.

6



2.THE ACTIONS OF VIETNAMESE PEOPLE
2.1. Precautionary measures
2.1.1.Personal precautionary measures
Personal precautionary measures
%
Maintain a 1.5 to 2 metres distance between yourself and
88,2
others when communicating
Wear a mask when going out
99,5
Cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze
94,9
Clean hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap after coughing
88,4
or sneezing
Wash your hands often with soap throughout the day
97,4
Use hand sanitizer frequently throughout the day
81,2
Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth
85,1
Clean and disinfect phone screen when you get home
48,1
Check body temperature at least twice a week
45,1
Table 2.1.Evaluate compliance with the personal precautionary measures
during COVID19 (n=2,175)
The above data table is extracted from a study from the Institute of Public
Health Research under the Faculty of Public Health,from Hue University of

Medicine and Pharmacy on 2,175 Vietnamese people, conducted from
March 31, 2020 to April 6. 2020 through an online survey that includes 10
personal precautionary measures.It shows information about the
percentage of measures that were practiced by Vietnamese people during
the COVID19 pandemic.

7


Figure 2.1.1.Survey result about wearing face mask in 15 countries
In the result table, wearing a mask while going outranks first among ten
measures with a compliance rate of 99.5%, which was quite high compared
to some other countries in the world, such as China (the country which
was first identified the virus) with 83% and US with 50%[Figure 2.1].
This difference may be the consequence of the government's mandatory
masking regulation that was enforced from April 1, 2020. The second
cause is the fact that in many Asian countries, including Vietnam, most
people have a habit of wearing a mask as a means of preventing dust. Other
statements that also received a high proportion of positive responses were
washing hands frequently with soap throughout the day and covering
mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing with 97.4% and 94.9%,
respectively; widely disseminated and easily accessible to people maybe
the factor led to this result.The least practice measure was to check body
temperature at least twice a week, possibly because people usually only
check their body temperature when they feel sick.
In short, we can assume that the majority of Vietnamese people have a
good sense of executing personal precautionary measures for themselves,
8



applying many government measures such as wearing masks when going
out, keep a distance of 1.5-2m when communicating, cover mouth and
nose when coughing,….
2.1.1.1. What kind of mask did Vietnamese people use when going out during
the pandemic?

Figure 2.1.1 Types of face masks that was worn due to coronavirus COVID-19
among Vietnamese 2020
There were two types of face masks available on the market: normal
medical masks and fabric masks. According to the survey above, it can be
seen that disposable medical masks were the first choice of most
Vietnamese people, with 88% of people choosing. This popularity can
come from its usability for every target, from citizens to the healthcare
professionals.
Although it should only be used for people in areas with low disease levels,
cloth masks were still used by 47% of the surveyors, possibly due to the
lack of medical masks on the market or the fact that it can be reused many
times.
2.1.2. Community precautionary measures
Community precautionary measures
Avoid meeting or gathering with more than 10
people in
Avoid going to a restaurant, bar or club

n
1791

%
82,3


2147

98,7
9


Avoid attending funerals
2117
97,3
Avoid participating in religious activities
2160
99,3
Avoid going to the gym
2157
99,2
Avoid going to a barbershop, nail salon, massage
2121
92,5
parlor or spa
Avoid taking buses or public transport with more
2079
95,6
than 5 people
Avoid using the same chopsticks / spoon when
1137
52,3
eating with family
Avoid sharing chopsticks / scoops when eating
1986
91,3

with strangers
Avoid shopping
950
43,7
Didn't visit another province / country
2162
99,4
Table 2.2. Evaluate compliance with the community precautionary measures
during COVID19 (n=2,175)
During the outbreak, most of the participants did not go to another
province / country, avoided religious activities, avoided going to the gym
and went to restaurants, bars or clubs, with compliance rates of 99.4%,
99.3%, 99.2% and 98.7%, respectively. This could be the aftermath of
Directive 16 / CT-TTg issued by the Prime Minister, issued on March 31st
and partly due to public concerns over the pandemic situation.
On the other hand, nearly half of the participants went to the market in the
past seven days with the lowest compliance rate of 43.7%. It could be
explained that families always prioritize using fresh food, especially
women who tend to buy raw material for cooking. However, this problem
was not of concern as shopping is believed to be a good reason to leave
home.
Overall, we can see that the majority of Vietnamese people have a good
sense of obeying disease prevention measures not only for themselves but
also for the community and society.This action contributed immensely to
our country, helped to prevent the virus from spreading in the community
and avoided the positive cases from increasing.
2.2. New ideas for adapting to the epidemic and new shopping
options - online shopping
The coronavirus was complicated, not only affecting social security issues,
people’s health but also affecting enterprises from large to small in

accessing customers as well as delivery for partners. However, in parallel
with the difficulties caused by Covid,there were effective as well as unique
10


solutions: many new ways of selling food at restaurants in different ways,
created by delivery and shipping services, shopping online.
2.2.1. Generate many new ideas
The Covid-19 epidemic created many difficulties for society but was also
considered a valuable test for people in all aspects, especially the unlimited
human creativity. The following people are seen as highly creative ones
who create ways to sell safely but still ensure sales of their stores, even
attract more customers by their unique selling method.
Mr. Hoang Van Tien (29 years old) owner of a coffee shop Coffee Bike
(Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) came up with the
idea of selling coffee with ... fishing rods. Guests who came to buy coffee
must stand in the specified box, about 2 meters from the counter to
prevent the Covid-19 epidamic. The staff will deliver coffee to guests with
a long fishing rod. This fishing rod will have two cups of coffee when
delivered to guests: 1 cup of coffee for guests, and the other for customers
to pay. The process from making coffee to the client's hands takes about 2
minutes and 30 seconds. According to the owner, this approach made
many people surprised at first, but also more secure. Many people who
came to buy were also more excited.

Picture 2 .Using fishing rod to sale coffee
Also to ensure a distance of 2m during the covid-19, a noodle shop in Ho
Chi Minh City also "invented" a pulley to deliver food to customers.
According to the owner, the purpose of this idea is to avoid close contact
between buyers and sellers to prevent the Covid-19 virus. The owner of

the noodle shop is Mr. Le Hoai Nhan (Tan Phu district, Ho Chi Minh City),
the cost of making pulleys is only a few hundred thousand VND with
simple tools such as rails, iron door frames. The pulley system has a length
11


of 3.5 m, the wheels attached to the basket are made of bearings and are
lubricated with cooking oil.
A restaurant in Hanoi also pioneered the service of reducing exposure
during the Covid-19 epidemic with a remote control plane. Mr. Son (the
owner of the shop), at first he only used a flycam device to deliver small
snacks such as bread, then he found that it was effective, so he continued
using it to deliver vegetables to customers.

Picture 3.Using flycam to sale food
2.2.2. Shopping online
According to a survey by Rakuten Insight on online shopping during
COVID-19, 58.49 percent of respondents stated that they purchased more
online. In the same survey, the majority of respondents claimed that they
made online purchases several times a month.
Figure 2.2.a.Change in online purchase behavior during coronavirus in
Vietnam
With the above results, we can see that the majority of people chose to
shop online during the epidemic (58,49% of respondents said that they
purchased more online). This form of shopping brings many benefits while
ensuring safety for your health and ensuring the quality of life. It can be
said that this is an effective method for people in this complicated
situation.

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People who were living in the cooperation zone of online food delivery
brands just need to sit at home to select food and perform operations on
smartphones, confirm personal information, and pick up a location.The
food will be received in the shortest time without having to go to the
restaurants like before. This helped people ensure social distancing .
The shippers were also taking measures to guarantee a safe distance when
delivering orders for customers such as keeping a distance of 2m apart
with other shippers when waiting at the shop, washing hands before
entering the shop, strictly observing wearing a mask, ...
To deal with COVID-19, GrabFood officially introduced the indirect delivery
plan. After placing an order through the app, the customer will add a
specific location (convenient for the receiver and the delivery) to the order.
When the drivers deliver to the scheduled place, they will wait at a
distance of 2 - 3m. If the consignee does not have a specific, convenient
pickup location, the shipper will place an order on the GrabFood bag and
back to 2 - 3m to ensure safety according to customer requirements.
Besides, society also had a very unique online shopping form, which is
“help with shopping”. Not only GrabFood offered a new delivery plan, but
the Be ride-hailing app also launched the "help with shopping" service for
customers. On the app, customers will manually enter the item to buy,
driver Be will calculate the total amount the customer must pay. This was
quite a useful feature in the complicated situation of COVID-19 epidemic.
However, with the option of "help with shopping " is a relatively new
option, many people are not familiar with this form of buying.

Figure 2.2.b. Main products that were purchased more often online COVID-19
Another issue that we want to address is which products consumers chose
to buy online compared to pre-epidemic times. According to research by

Rakuten Insight, Vietnamese people tended to buy clothes and fashion
accessories the most during the Covid period, with 47.48% of products
purchased more than before the epidemic. Perhaps it was because in
everyday life they need to constantly work so there was not much time for
themselves. So, quarantine was an opportunity for them to buy more of the
goods they like for themselves with the tools of online seller sites and
home distributors. In addition, second place in the survey was food and
groceries (including non-alcoholic beverages), with 42.23% of the
13


respondents ‘choice. Although food can be purchased from markets,
supermarkets, and shops close to home in accordance with the safety
regulations of the Government and the Ministry of Health, people chose to
order food online which is more convenient and safer. Also the food they
ordered can be eaten immediately and maybe used as an ingredient for
another dish. It is not surprising that the third place, with 40.18% of the
total choice, was toilet products (including toilet paper, hand sanitizer and
face masks). The cause of the surge in demand for hygiene products is that
these are essential items to prevent the spread of coronavirus, and many
people felt anxious when the epidemic broke out, so they thought they had
to store more of these items.Another cause is that many of these items had
been purchased for the purpose of resaling at a higher price. However this
was only a small portion and had been disposed of according to
government regulations. Some products that can be used for pastime such
as music and television entertainment; toys, games and puzzles had a
slight rise, with 12% and 17.28% respectively. Alcoholic beverages only
went up to 7.53% due to social distancing measures so there weren’t many
gathering events for drinking .
Overall, Coronavirus not only created difficulties for most parts of society

but also creates a number of development opportunities for many jobs,
including the online services business. People in the 4.0 era are always
creative looking for simple and convenient ways to carry out daily
activities and business. People always manage even in the most difficult
situation to find a new way in this "new normal" period.
2.3.Storing food and necessaries at home
2.3.1.The changes in consumer’s behavior in COVID-19
To limit the spread during the COVID-19 epidemic, people often plan to buy
and store food for a long time to avoid going out and face-to-face contact in
crowded places.

Figure 2.3.a.Impact on shopping among Vietnamese urban citizens in
COVID19
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COVID-19 impacts not only general behaviors but shopping and out-ofhome consumption. According to a research conducted by Nielsen, 45% of
respondents have said that they were stocking up with more food at home
than before. Brick and mortar channels have been impacted, as more than
50% of people have reduced their frequency of visits to supermarkets,
grocery stores and wet markets.
Besides this, 25% of respondents said that they have increased their online
shopping and reduced their out-of-home consumption occasions. We can
assume that, due to the risk of coronavirus infection, instead of going out
daily to buy fresh and delicious food, many people accepted to go to the
market to buy stocked food for many days.

Figure 2.3.b.The most purchased food that Vietnamese people regularly
bought during COVID19
Another survey shows us that together with changes in shopping and

consumption, the relationship between some categories and consumers
has been affected. Buying dry food items (rice, flour, noodle,…) became a
trend toward many people, with 62,58% purchased. It could be explained
that during the "14-day" quarantine period, these food were most-bought
because they can last long and were used as main ingredients in many
dishes, especially rice which is a must in Vietnamese meal. For rice, people
often chose some sticky rice, brown rice, broken rice;...Next was canned
and tinned foods (canned vegetables, canned fish, corned beef, with
48,01% of respondent’s choices, due to its feature which is long expiration
day and easy to cook was suitable for people to stock up for a long time.
Furthermore, sweets and snack items (42.68%), fresh produce
(34.32%),Milk and dairy (32.48%) was also chosen to stock up. In
addition, vitamins and nutritional supplements (34.32%) witnessed an
increase in consumption due to people taking extra care to protect
themselves from coronavirus.
Mrs. Nguyen Thi Kim Thanh, 55 years old, from District 8, Ho Chi Minh City
said that when she heard that the neighboring neighborhood was isolated,
she immediately went to buy fresh vegetables such as radish, kohlrabi,
15


potatoes, and corn… first, then bought cooking oil, salt, fish sauce, pork,
beef, chicken, and put them in the freezer. She also prepared some canned
meat - canned fish, eggs. The most important item was 20 liter tank of
clean water to prevent water outages.
Buying green fruit to ripen slowly. Coffee and milk are bought-in to make
yogurt and flan cakes. Check the family medicine cabinet, beside Panadol
and Diarrhea medicine buy more Vitamin C. The total cost of this is 3
million VND for the family of 4. If the neighborhood is blocked for a long
time, the said items will be enough for a family to eat while not going out.

Mrs. Nguyen Pham Khanh Van, 38 years old, the mother of 3 sons, lives in
Phu Nhuan district, HCM city, said: “In response to the epidemic, the first
thing is to check the medicine cabinet in the house. Everyone can make
necessary lists depending on the health of their family members but
cannot lack medicines to reduce fever, diarrhea, stomach pain, vitamin C
(keep it close to drinking water to remember to drink regularly), bandages
and alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, bandages, and insect repellent... put it in
the first aid bag.”
Not only food, but people also replenished their necessaries such as
shampoo, shower gel, toothpaste, soap, cleaning solutions, hand sanitizer,
diaper...
The stock-up activities during the epidemic were usually not for resale, but
only to ensure the living of the family in case of a lockdown
2.3.2.Why did people do that?
Experts say the answer lies in the fear of the unknown and the belief that
there is a need for a dramatic reaction to the dramatic event - although in
this case the best response should be those things like washing your hands
often.
"It is also sensible to be prepared to respond to a bad situation in a way as
if it were more likely to happen," said David Savage, vice professor of
behavioral science and microeconomics at the University of Newcastle,
Australia, said.
However: "It would be unreasonable to buy 500 boxes of stewed beans in
case of an isolated period of about two weeks."
Doing this will make the scarcity worse. For example, Hurricane Harvey,
which hit the oil-rich Houston, Texas, in 2017. The precautionary measures
16


were taken by refineries, coupled with subsequent flooding, temporarily

stagnated the US supply of petroleum.
There are examples of prices skyrocketing when news of COVID 19
infections was released, such as a 50-piece mask pack sold for more than 1
million VND on social networking sites like Zalo or Facebook.
These high prices force companies to take steps to prevent the resellers
from spreading rumors to make a profit.
Facebook, for example, had to announce the removal of more than a million
products for basic needs due to false advertising and fraudulent pricing.
The popular pharmaceutical company in Vietnam, Pharmacity announced
that it would limit the sale of hand sanitizer to a limit of only two bottles
per customer.
The supply of masks has also become tense. The government recommends
that people limit the purchase of medical masks and replace them with
cloth masks because they are not as ineffective in preventing COVID 19, but
also there is not enough for health care workers, who need to use them at
work.
The fact that the Chinese was at the heart of the disease outbreak further
amplified the buying panic, according to Ben Oppenheim, a senior leader at
Metabiota, a research firm on infectious diseases, based in San Francisco,
says.
The slow purchasing due to the impact of the COVID 19 epidemic caused
many large retailers to drastically reduce revenue, at times up to 50%.
The report of the Ministry of Industry and Trade assessing the impact and
damage to retailers sent to the Government said that some distribution
businesses were affected by COVID 19, which directly affected the business
situation of the system, compared to with January, February 2019, sales
have increased but the growth rate is slower.
While essential goods such as food and foodstuff increased due to the
hoarding psychological accumulation before complicated developments of
disease, other commodity groups decreased. Thus, business activities in

the first quarter declined over the same period.
For example, Lotte Mart chain of February revenue decreased by about
50% compared to January 2020 and by more than 20% compared to the
same period in 2019; Aeon Vietnam also saw a decrease of 2% in revenue
in January 2020; February decreased 6% compared to the proposed plan.

17


Saigon Co.op - The operator of the Co-opmart chain, ground rental revenue
decreased by 50%, Retail sales in the first 2 months decreased by about
50% compared to the same period last year and may decline by VND1,000
billion if the disease is controlled in the second quarter, and down
VND2,000 billion if the disease continues.
Saigon Trading Corporation (Satra) had retail sales in the first 2 months of
2020, down about 50% over the same period.
For LPG gas businesses, output also dropped from 40% to 50% due to a
sudden drop in demand from industrial production, restaurants and hotels
closed massively.
The number of employees in the LPG distribution industry is greatly
affected by the decrease in business output. It is estimated that about
30,000 employees directly participate in LPG retail, 2,500 employees work
directly at filling stations, supply stations and workers directly in service
activities such as transportation, maintenance...
Petroleum consumption also fell sharply, and inventories of businesses
were high. According to estimates of the Vietnam Petroleum Association,
gasoline consumption decreased by about 30% compared to before.
This amount of petroleum inventories, in addition to incurring storage
costs, also causes great damage to petroleum businesses when the world
oil price has continuously decreased recently.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that prolonged epidemic diseases
will directly affect distribution businesses when sales revenue decreases
while business costs are difficult to reduce because it is still necessary to
retain apparatus and commodity reserves to stabilize the market.
Accordingly, it is forecast that some distribution enterprises may have to
stop operating or reduce their scale. Workers will have to reduce working
hours, or have no job, affecting social security.
The Vietnamese people's fear of COVID 19 is causing the retail industry to
decline revenue unprecedentedly. However, experts say that this is an
opportunity for the retail industry to innovate.
According to the analysis department of MB Securities Company (MBS), the
retail industry will be strongly affected by the epidemic; in particular,
people will limit shopping directly and switch to online shopping.
Research by Nielsen Research Vietnam shows that people's consumption
behavior is greatly affected by the COVID 19 epidemic when people
increase preventive storage of essential products; Avoid crowds and often
buy online.

18


“Vietnamese now are spending more time online and are also shopping
more online. This provides an opportunity for marketers to be aggressive
with their digital strategies and should have a stronger and visible
presence online,” said by Mohit Agrawal , Head of Consumer Insights,
Nielsen Vietnam.
This is clearly reflected through the statistics of supermarkets and large
electronics. For example, the Mediamart supermarket system announced
that the sales of electrical appliances decreased by 30-40%, only the
dryers, dehumidifiers, and air purifiers were consumed more than before.

The trade complex - Aeon Vietnam supermarket also said that the number
of customers went shopping decreased by 20-35%. Sales of goods slowed
down, but the fast food segment - instant food, dry products, face masks,
and hand sanitizer were sold faster with a larger quantity per purchase
than before.
Regarding shopping trends, the MBS analysis team also pointed out that
there is a change when the items are expected to be most affected in the
short term, consumption trends will shift more through frozen products
and storing essentials there by limiting the need to go to the supermarket
many times. This leads to negative effects on listed companies like MWG
and PNJ.
Among retail types, supermarket and market channels were expected to be
the most affected. However, in comparison between these two forms,
consumers said that they would limit going to the supermarket more than
the market because the supermarket is a closed environment with airconditioning, so it is easy to spread the virus.
MBS believed that the epidemic situation not only had a short-term impact
on shopping habits at supermarkets but also had a long-term impact as
this event would promote the transition of shopping from offline to online
faster.
Although retailers were confident that they would complete the full-year
plan, MBS, on a prudent point of view, believed that the profit growth rate
would be 2-3 percentage points lower than the target growth rate of the
business plan.
“There is an obvious impact of COVID-19 to consumer life, however we can
expect a quick recovery given the high level of consumer confidence in
Vietnam. Consumption can bounce back relatively quickly after the
outbreak, so retailers and manufacturers need to prepare enough supply
for this time” said Nguyen Anh Dung, Head of Retail Measurement Service,
Nielsen Vietnam.


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2.3.3. Alternative solutions
A better plan than panicking shopping is to be well-prepared for
emergencies or crises.
Pay attention to the needs of others as well in case such events happen:
keep enough for yourself and your family, but avoid buying too much to
pile up in your home. Because if each individual panicked to buy stock, it
would push prices up, or cause a shortage of goods for those who need to
use those items more than the rest of the population.
It is also worth noting that reliable sources of information are always
crucial in combating rumors and false information.
2.4 Exercising at home during COVID-19
2.4.1. High demand for sports equipment
According to many researches, if a person do not exercise regularly or stop
exercising, his body will be deconditioned, decrease aerobic capacity and
have poor resistance. Therefore, everyone should not neglect the practice
of physical exercise, especially in the current epidemic time, each person
should find a method to train themselves and maintain physical activity.
Online products
%
Vitamin C supplements
42
Comdom
56
Nintendo Switch gaming console
59
kitchen equipment
50-80

Home gym equipment
116
Toys
30-200
Keyboard
264
Webcam
624
Table 2.4.Most search products on the Internet according to Iprice,3/2020
Iprice , a website aggregator of online products for customers to compare
prices , conducted a research about the most searches during the
quarantine period of Covid19, using its website data . Besides the
significant upward trend of many electronic products, as most employees
had to work from home and use video calls to connect , there was a
remarkably increase in the online searches for home gym equipment , by
116% in March compared to February .The most sought products in this
section were dumbbells, treadmills and stationery bikes.

20


Figure 2.2.b Main products that were purchased more often online COVID-19
Using again the figure from 2.2.b about the products that were purchased
more online during Covid-19, we can see that the Sports equipment and
apparel also went up about 17% compared to before the epidemic.
The results above suggest that as many fitness centers and clubs such as
gym, aerobic, yoga ... closed due to the complicated development of the
epidemic, many people had chosen exercise at home as a way to replace
outdoor exercise, not only for professional athletes but also for the
individual who wanted to maintain their usual training routine. This

simple and fun activity at home keeps the body healthy active, and also has
a protective effect on the immune system.
2.4.2.Changing habits of exercising during the pandemic.
2.4.2.1. The people who already have experience
At the pre-epidemic time, every day from 5-7 hours, more than 20
members of the Aerobic Club of the Park Ward 1, Sa Dec City gathered to
participate in activities. However, since the Covid-19 epidemic situation
was complex, the Prime Minister issued a directive requesting social
distancing; the club has strictly observed and adjusted the form of practice.
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The club encourages its members to practice at home to ensure safety. Ms.
Nguyen Thi Hieu Van - Club manager said, “Before, every morning, the
members of the club practiced Tai chi together every morning. But for the
past 2 weeks, social distancing, self-quarantining made it harder to
exercise together, most of the members have to to practice at home so
everyone felt uncomfortable. However, the Board of Directors always
reminds members to strictly comply with the Prime Minister's Directive
not to gather many people; everyone must wear masks to protect
themselves and those around them ".
Ms. Pham Thi Thuy Phuong (Born in 1959), lives in, ward 1, Sa Dec city, a
member of the club said, “Due to the risk of infection in crowded places,
the club is restricted to a small gathering , so I often practice at home. In
addition, I also choose to walk in the morning and evening to improve my
health ... " .
As recommended by the Ministry of health, one of the preventive measures
against Covid-19 epidemic diseases is to maintain physical training and
exercise regularly to increase the body's resistance. However, due to the
risk of infection, many people choose to practice at home, while ensuring

their safety. Mr. Bui Van Phuoc (Born in 1967, lives in Phu Thuan B
commune, Hong Ngu district) used to regularly went to the GYM room in
the afternoons to practice physical exercise such as weight lifting,
jogging ..., but after the announcement of social distancing regulation, he
some fitness tools and continue his daily practice. According to Mr. Phuoc, ,
he had been practicing in the GYM room every afternoon for nearly ten
years. Because the gym was temporarily closed to prevent the Covid-19
epidemic, the local government has also recommended limiting going out,
so he had switched to practicing at home to be safer. Mr. Bui Van Phuoc
shared. “Nowadays, I practice about 1 hour in the morning before going to
work instead of the afternoon as usual. Staying active helps ease
depression, stress, and anxiety, my body also feels a lot healthier , and at
the same time, I felt safe when not in close contact with many people ... ".
2.4.2.2.The new people
In addition, many locals, especially youngsters, started working out at
home for the first time. There are many reasons for this: the lack of
activity made many worried that they would likely gain weight, they
wanted to kill time after staying at home for prolonged periods of time or
inspired by friends on Facebook.
Thanh Thu, who lives in Ho Chi Minh City, said that she spends at least one
hour every day trying to follow abs exercises from Chloe Ting, an
Australian YouTuber and fitness personality. Having started workout
online for the first time without any experience, Thu confessed that it was
very hard for her to mimic the right body form for each exercise.“Then I
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register to certain fitness Facebook groups. I have learned a lot by chatting
with members who encounter the same problems as I do,” she said.
Similarly, other people also attended to online sessions and classes. There

are multiple websites that offer free trial sessions when you become a
member; the new members can sign up for the whole class at a affordable
cost.
2.4.2.3. Summary
To put it briefly, the people who had participated in a sports centers or
clubs before the outbreak would continue to remain active. Some gave up
their old habit and changed to easier exercises such as push-ups, walking
…, some strictly kept their weekly routine by buying fitness tools and
workout at home, others changed their practice time to suit their working
hours. On the other hand, local residents who worked out at home for the
first time went to online classes to make a new pastime hobby or to keep
their bodies in shape.
2.4.3. The effect of exercising at home
Since the first day COVID-19 appeared in Southeast Asia, people have
started to do more exercises in hope of improving their immune system.
Exercising helps the immune system to work better, attack faster than
invading viruses. Immunity is the body's defense and detection system
against foreign pathogens such as viruses, bacteria ... It is possible to
distinguish two systems: natural immunity (non-specific immunity) and
acquired immunity (specific immunity). Immunoglobulin (in specific
immunity) has been shown to inhibit the replication of some viruses.
Immune globulins such as IgA, IgG, and IgD will increase in moderate and
heavy exercise people. According to research on the relationship between
exercise and IgA showed that regular exercise, with moderate intensity
such as walking 45 minutes / day, for 5-7 days / week, the concentration of
IgA and another immunoglobulin also significantly increased. Even for the
elderly, less exercise can also increase immune globulins. Increasing IgA
globulin from endurance training is crucial for stopping the virus during
the epidemic season. This will limit the virus from entering through the
respiratory tract, helping to maintain a healthy immune system and

effectively prevent the virus.
Therefore, regular exercise and sports will contribute to protecting health,
helping psychological comfort, increasing resistance to pathogens. In
addition, regular exercise also helps people sleep better, reducing the
stress of the mind after working for a long period of inactivity. You must
always keep yourself a clear and active spirit, active every day to help you
be healthy both physically, mentally and mentally, especially while the
epidemic is still in complex situation. Therefore, during this challenging
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time, even though each citizen has to self-quarantine, they still need to pay
attention to exercising healthily regularly, right in their own house

CONCLUSION
It is essential to study people's behavior in a pandemic. It helps the
government to have a better understanding of the psychology and
decisions of its people during this global Coronavirus outbreak in 2020.
During the prolonged epidemic, compliance with government guidelines
was excellent and played a vital role in rapid disease control in Vietnam
and limited the impact on community health. Vietnamese people also
showed their bravery when they came up with many good ideas to both
not to interrupt the business and to protect the public health such as using
fishing rods, flycam to deliver food; “help with shopping” service and the
development of online delivery services. Some habits had been changed
such as not going shopping regularly and storing a lot of necessaries and
food at home to avoid close contact with many people. In addition, some
individuals took advantage of long-term isolation to improve their health
by exercising at home through online courses. The rapid adaptation of the
Vietnamese people to the epidemic had contributed to limiting the number

of infections in the community

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