Businessman Phan Quoc Viet was making his usual prayers at a pagoda in Tay Ninh, a province in southern Vietnam, when the government official's call came.
It was late January, just after the Lunar New Year. Vietnam had detected its first two cases of the new coronavirus days earlier, and the government was contacting companies with experience of medical testing for urgent help.
"The official said Vietnam needed to act quickly," said Viet, whose medical equipment company, Viet A Corp, makes test kits and has been central to Vietnam ramping up its testing program in response to the outbreak.
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