A flight carrying Vietnamese citizens from Taiwan (China) lands at Đà Nẵng International Airport on May 29. Việt Nam is now focused on bringing back stranded citizens and foreign experts to the country in order to revive the economy while containing the disease. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Up to 2,700 foreign experts entering Việt Nam in June and July will be quarantined upon arrival, the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control announced in Thursday meeting. 

As the country is moving towards the “new normal”,  with the domestic COVID-19 situation well under control, the committee discussed plans to bring back stranded Vietnamese people overseas and welcome foreign investors, experts and high-skilled labourers, in a bid to achieve the “double goals” of both containing the disease and stimulating the economy post-pandemic.

Foreign experts coming to Việt Nam will not have to produce certificates of being negative for SARS-CoV-2 when entering Việt Nam, but will be tested upon arrival and quarantined for 14 days, the committee agreed, citing concerns that the pandemic situation outside Việt Nam continues to be "complicated."

The committee has collaborated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines to help Vietnamese experts, business leaders and engineers stranded overseas to return home. 

The military still bears the responsibility of receiving and quarantining Lao, Cambodian and Chinese students entering Việt Nam via road routes.

The health ministry is tasked with soon developing instructions for receiving foreign investors and experts on short-term stay in Việt Nam.

Some 1,800 foreign experts have been isolated in quarantined areas nationwide since the country starts to close down its border against all foreign arrivals since late March.

With no new cases reported on Thursday morning, Việt Nam has gone seven weeks without COVID-19 community infections.

The tally of confirmed coronavirus patients in Việt Nam has stood at 328 since May 30 when the latest patient, a one-year-old boy returning from Russia on May 13 and quarantined upon arrival, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. 

A total of 302 patients have been given the all-clear, accounting for more than 92 per cent of reported infections. 

Việt Nam’s most critically-ill COVID-19 patient, a British pilot, no longer needed life support on Wednesday morning. He is now capable of holding a cup to drink, nod, smile and shake hands with doctors and nurses of HCM City’s Hospital for Tropical Diseases where he has been under treatment since March 18. 

On Wednesday, four COVID-19 patients who returned to Việt Nam from Russia last month and received treatment at Thái Bình Province General Hospital recovered. 

In Hà Nội, the 19th patient – one of the most critical cases in Việt Nam – was discharged from hospital on the same day after she was given the all-clear last week.

Vietnamese citizens brought home from the UK

Nearly 340 Vietnamese citizens have been brought home safely from the UK on a repatriation flight that touched down in Việt Nam yesterday.

The flight was arranged by the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK, the authorities in Việt Nam and the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines.

It left Heathrow Airport in London on Wednesday, landing at Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport in HCM City the following day.

Onboard were children, students, the elderly and sick along with a number of tourists whose UK visas had expired but were previously unable to leave due to border closures.

The Embassy of Việt Nam in London has instructed citizens to complete all required procedures and cooperate with local authorities to support them during their journey home.

Upon landing, passengers and cabin crew members undertook medical checks and were quarantined in line with regulations.

Ministry of  Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Transport and other Government’s agencies, Vietnam Airline will continue arranging flights to bring its citizens home depending on the COVID-19 pandemic's developments, quarantine capacity of Vietnamese localities, and the demand of Vietnamese citizens living overseas. — VNS