HCM City (VNS/VNA) – The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has just issuedurgent guidelines for a five-step quarantine procedure for arriving passengersamid the emergence of the Omicron variant in Vietnam.

According tothe document, the self-quarantine area (including homes, hotels, offices,dormitories, guest houses) must meet the standards required by the Ministry of Health.

If theaccommodation fails to meet these criteria, incoming passengers will have to gointo concentrated quarantine facilities.

The documentalso states that passengers arriving in Vietnam at Tan Son Nhat InternationalAirport must comply with a five-step procedure as follows:

Step1: Registera ‘Personal QR code’, which can be created using the PC-COVID app or the HCMCity COVID-19 Safety Portal at //antoan-covid.tphcm.gov.vn.

It isadvised that passengers should register for the code before boarding theirplane to Vietnam.

Step2: Testfor SARS-CoV-2 immediately upon arrival

The Tan SonNhat International Airport will set up a rapid-testing area for SARS-CoV-2, andcoordinate with international airlines to instruct people to test for thecoronavirus at the airport. The ‘Personal QR code’ will be used to provideinformation to the testing unit. 

If theresult is positive, the passenger will be taken for RT-PCR testing. HCM CityCentre for Disease Control (CDC) will work with the 115 Emergency Centre totransport the patients to field hospitals for quarantine and treatment.

If the testresult is negative, the airport and the airlines will guide the person tocontinue with the procedure to leave the airport for their residence.

Step 3: After arrivingat the accommodation, passengers must strictly comply with the 5K regulations

Thetransporting vehicle must only include the driver and the passenger. In thecase when there are people who come to pick up the passengers, they must notsit in the same vehicle (except for when the arrival is a foreigner who needsan interpreter).

Thetransporting vehicles for passengers must refrain from stopping and parkingalong the route. In case of emergency when the vehicle needs to pull up, safetymeasures for COVID-19 prevention and control must be taken. 

Step 4: Monitor anddeclare health conditions on a daily basis

The place ofaccommodation must register the new arrivals’ ‘Personal QR Codes’ immediatelyupon arrival. Health declarations and confirmation of accommodation must bereported on a daily basis during the quarantine period.

New arrivalsmust also practise the 5K measures. If they experience symptoms of COVID-19(cough, fever, difficulty in breathing, sore throat), they must immediatelyreport to the local medical centre for treatment.

Regardingthe period of quarantine:

For arrivingpassengers who are fully inoculated or recovered from COVID-19, they mustmonitor their own health status, refrain from coming into contact with otherpeople, and must not leave their accommodation for three days after the arrivaldate.

For thosewho are not vaccinated or fully inoculated, they must stay in theiraccommodation for seven days after the arrival date.

For arrivingpassengers who are under 18 or over 65, pregnant women, or have underlyinghealth conditions (but don’t have to be monitored and receive treatment frommedical facilities), they can go into quarantine with theirguardians/caretakers. 

Theguardians/caretakers must be fully vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19. Theyare also required to sign a statement on their voluntary quarantine afterreceiving an explanation on the risk of transmission.

They mustalso comply with the regulations on testing and pandemic prevention andcontrol, the same as the new arrivals. 

Step 5: Conduct RT-PCRtesting during the quarantine period at the accommodation

If the testresult returns negative for SARS-CoV-2, the person will have to continuemonitoring their health status for 14 days after their arrival.

If theresult returns positive, the testing unit must report to the HCM City CDC totransfer the sample to HCM City Pasteur Institute for genomic sequencing.

Localmedical centres where the patients are in quarantine will also be notified totransfer the infected to Field Hospital No. 12 (for those with no to mildsymptoms) or HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases (for those with signs ofrespiratory failure). 

Vietnam sofar has reported 20 Omicron infections, all imported cases which were allimmediately quarantined upon arrival and reportedly all asymptomatic or mildcases. Six of them, including five in HCM City and one in Hanoi (Vietnam'sfirst confirmed Omicron patient) have been given the all-clear after testingnegative for coronavirus./.