Vietnamese citizens waiting in line at Narita airport in Tokyo, Japan, on  June 5, preparing to board the specially arranged repatriation flight back home. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — 342 Vietnamese citizens, including 100 pregnant women, stranded in Japan have arrived safely in central Việt Nam on Wednesday.

The flight, jointly arranged by Vietnamese and Japanese authorities and operated by the national carrier Vietnam Airlines, flew from Narita International Airport in Tokyo and landed at Đà Nẵng International Airport this afternoon, according to the foreign ministry.

The passengers on board were the priority citizens for repatriation consideration as per the Government’s order, which include children under 18 years old, the elderly, the sick or workers with expired contracts or having no place to live, noted the foreign ministry.

The Vietnamese embassy in Japan had sent staff to the airport to assist Vietnamese citizens.

All arrivals underwent close medical observation and were quarantined on arrival for 14 days as per Việt Nam’s COVID-19 prevention and control regulations, as the country today marks the 69th day without any domestic community transmission cases.

Earlier Wednesday, Nguyễn Văn Văn, deputy head of Quảng Nam Province’s health department, said the repatriated citizens would be quarantined at a police academy in Thăng Bình District.

This is the second batch of Vietnamese citizens returning from Japan to be quarantined in the central province, following the first repatriation flight on June 5 that had 343 pregnant women on board.

During quarantine, two tested positive for the coronavirus and were moved to Quảng Nam Central General Hospital for treatment.

Previously, on March 29, Quảng Nam also received more than 300 Vietnamese citizens repatriated from Taiwan (China), 243 of which were women close to their due date.

Việt Nam’s agencies in the country and overseas missions will continue to arrange commercial flights to bring citizens home depending on the citizens’ demand and quarantine capacity in the country as well as the development of the pandemic. — VNS