Flights from South Korea to HCM City and Hà Nội airports will be re-directed to Vân Đồn and Cần Thơ airports. —  Photo: tuoitre.vn

HCM CITY — All flights from South Korea to Nội Bài International Airport in Hà Nội and Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport in HCM City will be re-directed to Vân Đồn and Cần Thơ airports to relieve pressure on medical centres in Hà Nội and HCM City, according to a decision by the Government.

The Government's response to the COVID-19 epidemic followed the increasing number of passengers traveling from South Korea to Hà Nội and HCM City in the past few days, up thousands of people every day, putting pressure on medical isolation centres of both cities, according to a representative from the Department of Aviation.

The decision only applies to passenger flights. Cargo flights will still land at Nội Bài and Tân Sơn Nhất airports.

The government has directed relevant units to isolate all passengers who are travelling from the affected areas.

Hà Nội and HCM City are working together to set up field hospitals to provide enough space for isolation cases. 

Dr Nguyễn Quang Thông, director of the Disease Control Center of Cần Thơ City, told Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) newspaper that the centre had increased the number of medical staff at the airport to prepare for passengers on flights from South Korea.

On Sunday, there were three flights from South Korea with a total of 618 passengers, including 85 passengers from Daegu and north Gyeongsang districts, areas in South Korea that have seen more cases, Thông said. 

The Cần Thơ Medical Centre has followed the direction of the Ministry of Health and has isolated all of these passengers at the city’s Military School in Ô Môn District. — VNS