Hanoi (VNA)– Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered suspending flights carryingVietnamese citizens home from countries and territories which report newvariants of SARS-CoV-2 and see complicated pandemic developments, firstly the UK andSouth Africa.

The Government leadermade the instruction in his Directive 01/CT-TTg issued on January 5 onintensifying COVID-19 prevention and control to ensure a safe and happy lunarNew Year (Tet) holiday – Vietnamese people’s biggest festival which falls in thefirst half of February this year.

The Foreign Ministry istasked with the strict screening of Vietnamese citizens abroad who wish toreturn to the country, to ensure the repatriation of those most in need in thetarget groups.   

The Directive notes that the pandemic continuesspreading rapidly in many countries, with more than 600,000 new cases and 6,000fatalities recorded each day. In particular, several new and more contagiousvariants of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 have been detected in 38 countries.

The risk of the coronavirus entering and spreadingin Vietnam remains high due to both legal and illegal entries and the negligencein disease prevention and control among the community.

In implementing the January 5 message of the PartyCentral Committee’s Secretariat on intensifying disease prevention and control,the Prime Minister requested the Defence Ministry to coordinate with theMinistry of Public Security and People’s Committees of border provinces totighten border management to prevent illegal entry.

The Defence Ministry and local People’s Committeesshould maintain close monitoring of all people entering Vietnam and ensure the14-day concentrated quarantine and strict medical surveillance afterconcentrated quarantine as regulated so as to stop the coronavirus fromspreading at concentrated quarantine facilities and from these facilities tothe community.

In case new infections are detected, theMinistries of Health, Public Security and Defence, and provincial and municipalPeople’s Committee must immediately trace those with possible contact with thepatients, and apply necessary measures.


The Ministry of Public Security must intensifyinvestigations and punish people entering Vietnam illegally or organizingillegal entry, accommodations and hotels serving these people, and thosedisobeying disease prevention and control regulations.

The Transport Ministry should direct the strictimplementation of pandemic prevention regulations before, during and afterflights so as to early detect and apply suitable measures for possibleinfections.

Chairpersons of provincial and municipal People’sCommittees were requested to intensify supervision to detect illegal entry, andenforce the strict implementation of regulations on concentrated quarantine andmedical surveillance after concentrated quarantine as well as on wearing facemasks at public places.

Provinces and cities should move to tighten theimplementation of disease prevention and control measures at organisations,residential areas and risky areas such as supermarkets, stations, airports,schools and hospitals.

The Government leader also required relevantministries and agencies to step up communications on the risk of the pandemic,and encourage the public to stay vigilant, wear face masks at public places andavoid mass gatherings, and inform authorized offices of illegal entry anddisease prevention and control violations./.