'REST' IN RESTRICTION
After a huge success in containing the first and second waves of the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Vietnam entered the next wave of the outbreak during the summer of 2021. The virus this time was much harder to control by the detection of new COVID-19 variants linked to the United Kingdom and India, which were claimed to be faster in spreading and posed a greater risk of severe illness and a higher fatality ratio. Acknowledging the upcoming danger, many local governments in Vietnam imposed various restrictions that had been introduced last year called Directive (Chỉ thị) and provided a list of safety measures referred to as 5K message (Thông điệp 5K) for their respective cities and provinces to prevent the more complicated contagion. Directive played a role in promoting the anti-COVID restrictions including the prohibition of in-door food and beverage services, the total closure of schools, cinemas, barber shops, sports centers, and other non-essential recreational places, and the limited access to public areas and transportation. While 5K message presented five compulsory preventative measures to combat the virus that all start with the letter "K" in Vietnamese, which respectively stands for: “Khẩu trang” (face mask); “Khử khuẩn” (disinfection); “Khoảng cách” (distance); “Không tập trung” (no gathering); and “Khai báo y tế” (health declaration). The restrictions, as well as safety measures, would be more or less stringent depending on the situation. However, their unpredictability left the rest of citizens living in constant fear of their safety, freedom, and stability being threatened every day as they had ever gone through in 2020. Normal activities such as exercising, playing sports, hanging out, or buying things, despite not yet fully banned at that time but citizens when going outside still must follow the medical guideline, which makes the daily routines that people probably think will normally do it again and again for the rest of their lives, to something very odd that they hope only experience it once-in-a-lifetime. Nothing can be an exception, even resting.
