We have had 0 cases for over 2 months.

You should stop with the "it is only viable in a small island in a remote corner of the planet" line of argument because it doesn't hold much water in my mind.

But the borders vietnam shares with those countries are hard borders. You need a visa and pass a government controlled checkpoint when you enter.

Europe (mainland) has no internal borders. There are no checkpoints, customs agents or chokepoints between countries.

There's thousands of roads leading from every country into others.

That, plus the fact that both the government and the population have had no experience with this make it very hard to control the virus.

I'm open to learn, though, so if you have some time to explain what we could learn from Vietnam I'm all ears.

Borders can be shut, it was done earlier this year. Lockdowns can be enforced, it was done earlier this year. Governments can provide financial support, it's been happening all year.

All this could be over in 4-6 months, and were going into the miserable 4-6 months of the year anyway.

But somehow it's all too hard and the economic damage would be too severe.

What people won't put up with, and rightly so, is an incoherent strategy across Europe. Why make sacrifices if everyone is then encouraged to go on their summer holiday to save the economy and undo everything?

Its frankly disappointing.

What makes you think another lockdown would eradicate it entirely in stead of it just coming back again?

I also don't believe europe would be capable of implementing an eradication strategy. The required social capital has already been burned, and at no point has europe demonstrated it's ability to work together on this. Now we can only wait for the technocrats to deliver us salvation in the form of a vaccine.

Even if the entire EU would agree to do it, we're still surrounded by other countries who might not do the same. And who's people will come into the EU whether we close the border or not.

(the guy who beheaded someone in France came to the EU illegally over the Mediterranean 2 or 3 days prior.)

Thinking an eridication strategy would've worked would've been a worse plan than lowering the curve I think.

We couldn't keep it out even if we wanted to. And yes, on that aspect, it's a huge difference to be an island far away from other countries.

As someone who lives in Vietnam, I think your conception of the hardness of the borders is mistaken. The land border with Vietnam-China is 1,300 kilometers long. That's longer than Germany's combined border with the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France.

"The 1,400km border between Vietnam and China is extremely porous, with a complicated geography characterised by mountains and rivers – especially in the north – that makes it difficult to monitor cross-border traffic, according to Mimi Vu, an independent Vietnamese-American anti-trafficking expert based in Saigon."

> Europe (mainland) has no internal borders. There are no checkpoints, customs agents or chokepoints between countries.

Yes it does. Germany closed its borders on March 16.

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/germany-introduces-bor...

France, Spain, and Italy also closed their borders. Something like a dozen countries in the EU closed their borders.

... but somehow cases are still not under control.

https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2020/06/29/na062920-vie...

One thing we have learned is that it is easier for authoritarian regimes to deal with pandemics, because having a police state that knows everything about you makes it a lot easier.

So, the answer is, a number of things matter, and it will take many years to parse these things out.

Being a small island helps, being remote helps, having less public transportation helps, living in a police state helps, etc. etc.

English version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGoodWEtV8c

And while mainland Europe is not a "relatively small Island", the UK surely is...

Driving case counts down to zero isn't useless since any outbreaks that flare up again due to gaps in border security will be localized and can be kept in check with localized lockdowns instead of shutting down the whole country.

Police road blocks. Geography no doubt helps: there are only so many bridges across the Murray River, passes through the Australian Alps, and roads across the desert to Adelaide. And it's a bit far to ride a bicycle cross country.

Not in continental Europe, not without involving the military.

And they’ve had in-Schengen passport checks on “temporary for 1-year” bases for several years now without the EU doing too much about it.