In light of coronavirus spread concerns, Vietnam will temporarily suspend visa issuance for foreigners entering the country for a period of 30 days starting Wednesday (March 18), Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc said.

Speaking at the conference on novel coronavirus (COVID-19) prevention and control on Tuesday, the Vietnamese Government leader said cases of visa exemption or those travelling for special purposes will have to be certified as negative to the virus.

The certificate must be issued by the competent authority of the host country and approved by Vietnam.

The measures do not apply to people travelling for diplomatic or official purposes.

Those entering must undergo medical checks according to regulations, he said.

All travellers from outside Vietnam, both foreigners and overseas Vietnamese living or transiting in ASEAN countries in the past two weeks, will face a 14-day quarantine at centralised facilities, the Ministry of Transport has said.

In the urgent document sent to the Vietnam Aviation Department, the ministry asked airlines to notify passengers who are considering buying international flight tickets to Việt Nam.

The ministry also required airlines to guide passengers taking domestic flights to fill in medical declaration forms and have their body temperature taken before boarding.

HCM City’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said those who participated at a recent religious gathering at a mosque in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia would be placed under quarantine and quickly inform local health authority or via call the hotline 1900.9095 or 1900.3228 for instructions.

Those living in HCM City needed to contact district-level health authorities for support, it said.

The 61st infection case in Vietnam had been at the event held between February 27 and March 1, attracting 16,000 people. At least 240 cases have been reported to be infected with the virus, with nine critically ill in intensive care in other countries.

Source: VietnamInsider