Europe's coronavirus crisis is resurging. For months, 3 Nordic nations kept it under control — without lockdowns

Vietnam has reported less than 300 COVID-19 cases and no related deaths, earning the government and citizens praise for how the country has thus far tackled the spread of the virus. The country's comprehensive methodology of scalable testing, closure of borders, mandatory quarantine, and public messaging such as "staying home is loving your country," resulted Vietnam not just emerging as an outlier for containment, but has also allowed for local businesses and some tourist attractions to reopen.

With the goal of containing the spread of Covid-19, the national governments in Australia and New Zealand took an approach that was predicated on letting public health experts take the lead. Although this approach – which led to early and aggressive restrictions of movement – was not met favorably by all at first, it has proved successful so far, leading both countries to reset the goal to eliminating the virus rather than just containing it.

When Covid-19 cases began to be reported in Washington state, the state government – at the suggestion of local health officials – enacted some of the most stringent restrictions in the nation. Although these actions did not come without trade-offs, in Seattle, the strategy has resulted in "the lowest death rate of the 20 largest metropolitan regions in the country."

Due to its proximity to China, experts forcasted that Taiwan would experience a high number of coronavirus cases, but aggressive intervention strategies have kept the overall caseload much lower than expected. New regulations, especially focused on people traveling through the airport – such as enrolling travelers in a national coronavirus database, taking their temperature in the airport, and mandating a two-week quarantine – granted the government the capability of being able to track the spread of potential incoming cases.

Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea have each seen success through their efforts to contain the coronavirus. Using methods such as aggressive isolation methods that include penalties, contact tracing and rapid intervention strategies that were in place from previously dealing with other communicable diseases, the lessons these countries have learned could provide information for countries still struggling to slow the spread.

As the West continues to battle the spread of coronavirus, countries like Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan offer lessons in what's working to flatten the curve. Although some measures such as early intervention and social distancing are more difficult to implement after the spread has begun, other tactics such as contact tracing and clear communication also have proven impactful.

Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Japan all implemented similar comprehensive public health emergency plans that successfully reduced the spread of coronavirus in each region. Although each country used tactics such as travel restrictions, widespread testing, transparent communication, and quarantine protocols, Taiwan and South Korea are emerging as models for other countries due to the structure of democracy.

Strict and early knockdowns and consistent public health messaging have helped Australia effectively eliminate Covid-19. Now, the country and its residents have largely returned to business as usual, despite many citizens still waiting to receive the Covid vaccine.

Although the goal was not to eradicate but to contain COVID-19, Australia is "close to eliminating community transmission of the coronavirus." Many factors played a role in the country's success but one of the most prominent tactics was to cede public communications health officials rather than government officials.

Although public health experts agree that New York was initially slow to implement protocols to protect citizens from COVID-19, they also agree that the state was able to gain control over the virus due to the actions the governor and the public eventually took. Protocols that have proved successful for the state include a mask mandate, a stay-at-home order and a delay in reopeneing businesses despite a decrease in cases.