Phương Nam Resort in Cần Giờ District, which set aside 70 rooms for a free quarantine facility, on Thursday receives people required to quarantine for 14 days. — Photo courtesy of the Department of Tourism

HCM CITY — Hotels and resorts in HCM City’s coastal district of Cần Giờ are fully prepared to receive returnees from overseas to spend their mandatory 14-day quarantine period in hotel rooms to prevent the spread of COVID-19, according to the municipal Department of Tourism.

The Department of Tourism in coordination with the Department of Health and Cần Giờ District’s People’s Committee on Thursday (March 19) offered training for managers and staff at seven hotels and resorts which are working with the city to make use of 342 empty rooms for people to quarantine.

Anyone coming to Việt Nam from abroad is required to quarantine for 14 days.

Hotels and resorts arranged as quarantine facilities for people returning from overseas must comply with instructions on medical quarantine, said Nguyễn Thị Ánh Hoa, deputy director of the department.

Nine hotels and resorts in the city agreed to shift to quarantine facilities, Hoa said.

She said that hotels can register to be arranged as paid quarantine facilities or voluntarily set aside their hotels for free quarantine facilties.

Phương Nam Resort in Cần Giờ District which set aside 70 rooms for free quarantine areas on Thursday started to receive people required to quarantine for 14 days, she said.

The department is coordinating with local authorities to encourage more hotels to provide quarantine facilities to meet the rising demand.

Quarantine facility at dorm

Huỳnh Thành Đạt, director of Việt Nam National University-HCM City, said on Thursday that a section of its dormitory would be arranged as a 20,000-bed quarantine facility.

Speaking at a meeting on Thursday, Nguyễn Thành Phong, chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, said that the number of Vietnamese returnees to the city from overseas was estimated at around 37,000 people in the coming days.

Phong ordered State agencies and authorities in districts to examine the capacity of the city’s quarantine centres for people returning from overseas.

It is also crucial to ensure adequate human resources and protective equipment at quarantine centres, he said.

He call on retired doctors, students attending medical universities, and the Youth Volunteer Force to participate in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly 3,000 people are being placed under 14-day quarantine in the city to prevent the spread of the virus. — VNS