Vietnam starts evacuating 129 COVID-19 workers from Equatorial Guinea

All crew members wear protective suits throughout the duration of the flight

The aircraft is said to fly directly from Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport to Ba Ta airport of Equatorial Guinea, and the flight is expected to last for more than 30 hours.

The Ministry of Health dispatched two doctors and two orderlies on board the aircraft together with necessary medical equipment such as ventilators, protective clothes and specialized N85 masks to support the workers.

All crew members are required to wear protective suits throughout the duration of the flight.

Vietnam Airlines strictly implements security, safety and epidemiology measures during the flight, in order to protect the passengers’ health and prevent the spread of the virus.

Upon arriving at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, all the Vietnamese returnees will be directly transferred to the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in the capital city for medical surveillance and treatment.

Dr Pham Ngoc Thach, director of the hospital, said the hospital has made adequate preparations to receive the workers.

Early in July, more than 200 Vietnamese workers in Equatorial Guinea had sent a letter to Vietnamese representative agencies in Angola, asking for help as they were in distress. Many of them were confirmed to have carried the virus.

They were working at Sendje hydropower plant in Equatorial Guinea under labour contracts between Duglas Alliance Ltd of the UK and three Vietnamese companies, Tan Dai Loi, CMVIETNAM and LILAMA 10.

At a Cabinet meeting later, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Transport to work with Vietnamese representative agencies in Angola and relevant agencies in Equatorial Guinea to bring home the workers at the earliest possible time.