Thread by @XorNinja

A friend asked why they haven't seen much international news about the COVID outbreak in Vietnam. Honestly I don't know exactly why, but here's what I know.

Please spread the word. The world needs to know this.

My family has lost 3 members. My aunt died 3 days ago, her husband and another aunt's husband 2-3 weeks ago.

My dad and my uncle are hospitalized. My uncle is in bad shape, thanks God my dad has started recovering.

So far I've lost 8 people whom I'd known my whole life.

But this is not about me or my family.

I have friends and I can afford things. If I still can't protect my family, how the hell can less fortunate people deal with this horrendous crisis?

The answer is they can't and are dying en mass.

Don't take my word for it. Here's the msg I got yesterday from a doctor volunteering to fight at one of the COVID epicenters. The last msg literally means "died a lot".

I redacted their identity because I don't know if the government would go after them.

Here's another msg I got from our contact in Binh Duong. A 20 years old ethnic man died yesterday because of hunger.

It sounds unbelievable, but if somebody told me in August 2021 I'd have to call everyone I know to find oxygen and food for my dad I wouldn't believe either.

Now, why haven't you heard about this? As I said, I don't know exactly why, but I have a few theories.

It could be censorship. Local journalists told me that when the outbreak was about to get out of control, the Ministry of Truth has forbidden reporters to report bad news.

Doctors are also disallowed to plead for help on social media. They are too exhausted anyway to do anything after their endless shifts.

It could be that the gov wants to save face, refuses to ask for international aid (except vaccines), as they don't want to admit that they're responsible for the worst humanitarian crisis since the fall of Saigon.

It could be that the people affected the most (like the person in Binh Duong that died because of starvation) are at the bottom of the society, and don't have any means to even cry for help. Without a smart phone, they had ceased to exist even before COVID killed them.

Or it could be that my family is really unlucky and everybody else is doing just fine.

I know that can't be true because every single person I've talked to is struggling to survive.

#Saigon was trending a few days ago when Saigon 1975 was being compared to Kabul 2021. Most didn't know that Saigon 2021 is also falling.

But now you do. Please help spread the word and make a donation: vietbay.group/events/fundrai….

/End