Arrivals subject to three COVID-19 tests when entering Vietnam
VOV.VN - Entrants to Vietnam will have to undergo three tests to detect signs of novel coronavirus (COVID-19), as opposed to being tested twice as before, with the new safeguard measure being part of epidemic prevention and control work.
The new policy was announced by Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen at a meeting of the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control held in Hanoi on October 15.
Deputy Minister Tuyen stated the Ministry of Health (MoH) has worked alongside relevant ministries and agencies to draft a procedure of entry, surveillance, and medical isolation for individuals entering the country on commercial flights from safe destinations overseas.
According to the official, the MoH has developed a standard information management system that enables local administrations, medical workers, and the police to manage those entering the country. It will provide details of their quarantine time at health facilities, accommodation, businesses, and homes, with the system set to be regularly updated.
The MoH will also initiate plans to guide health facilities, educational institutions, hotels, factories, State offices, and supermarkets on how to correctly assess the safety level in relation to disease prevention and control.
It will also provide an update on the COVID-19 safe living map through www.antoancovid.vn, with the map set to apply to health facilities and educational institutions.
The MoH has also set out a criteria aimed at rating safety levels of facilities, and places that fail to meet safety standards will be forced to halt operations, according to the MoH official.
At the meeting, experts noted three risks of virus infection, from illegal entrants, legal entrants who fail to fully observe regulations relating to COVID-19 prevention and control, and imported commodities.
While discussing measures to strictly control entrants, participants underlined the need to create favourable conditions for entrepreneurs, investors, highly-skilled employees, and experts to enter the country in order to meet domestic production and business requirements.
They also raised concerns about the epidemiological safety of international commercial flights when Vietnam gradually reopened these routes. They stressed epidemic prevention and control measures should be tightened before, during, and after the flight.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has recently permitted the transport sector to reopen international commercial flights to and from seven destinations overseas where COVID-19 has been successfully brought under control.
Despite this, only two such flights have been piloted, with problems arising concerning the quarantine fees. The Ministry of Transport has therefore decided to temporarily suspend these flights until a new single quarantine management system is complete and can be implemented.
At present, domestic airlines can conduct flights to transport foreign investors, executive managers, and experts to Vietnam, as well as to bring home Vietnamese citizens who have been stranded overseas due to COVID-19.
Although some sporadic COVID-19 cases have been detected from these flights, they were all quarantined as soon as they landed in the country, therefore posing no risks to the community.