Vietnam Airlines' aircrafts grounded at Nội Bài International Airport. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Commercial flights between Việt Nam and China will soon resume, according to an announcement from the Government Office.

Conditions for allowing which passengers on the flights still have to be agreed by both countries’ aviation authorities and no firm date for resumption was released.

The announcement includes Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc’s conclusions at a meeting with the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control on July 10. 

The PM tasked Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work with Ministry of Transport and related agencies to conduct repatriation flights, open commercial flight routes between Việt Nam and other countries and bring back Vietnamese people from key transit hubs of Seoul (South Korea), Tokyo (Japan), Taiwan, Guangzhou (China), Vientiane (Laos) and Phnom Penh (Cambodia).  

The Ministry of Education and Training has asked universities to prepare to receive foreign students, giving priority to those from Laos and Cambodia. 

There is a rising demand for entry from overseas Vietnamese citizens, foreign experts and students and the Government will work to receive these people based on priority and Việt Nam’s quarantine capability, according to the announcement.  

The PM tasked ministries of Transport, Foreign Affairs and Health in collaboration with flag carrier Vietnam Airlines to repatriate 219 Vietnamese labourers working in Equatorial Guinea, including at least 112 people who have reportedly tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and are under treatment in the African country.

Việt Nam continues allowing diplomats, experts, investors, high-skill workers, their next of kin and foreign students of Vietnamese institutes to enter the country. These people will be tested and quarantined upon arrival, the announcement reads. 

The PM asked to add at least 10,000 more slots at centralised quarantine camps. The Ministry of Defence is in charge of inspecting quarantine areas, including hotels used to isolate foreign experts, investors and workers.

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs takes responsibility to send Vietnamese workers overseas, especially to countries which have responded well to COVID-19.

340 Vietnamese citizens repatriated from the UK

Medical workers delivering the 91st patient home were among more than 340 Vietnamese citizens repatriated from the UK yesterday. 

The Vietnamese Embassy and relevant agencies in the UK and the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines have worked together to arrange the flight which landed at Vân Đồn International Airport in northern coastal Hải Phòng City yesterday.

Other passengers include children, students, the elderly, sick people, labourers whose visas have expired and tourists, people on business trips who were stranded due to COVID-19 pandemic. Việt Nam Embassy to the UK instructed nationals to carry out the necessary procedures and supported Vietnamese students at Irish institutes to transit in the UK. 

All returnees were quarantined upon arrival. 

The Vietnamese agencies located overseas will continue to work with national airlines to arrange more repatriation flights, depending on the pandemic developments and quarantine capacity of localities. 

The Vietnamese agencies located overseas will continue to work with national airlines to arrange more repatriation flights, depending on the pandemic developments and quarantine capacity of localities. 

Việt Nam reported no new cases of COVID-19 yesterday evening, the total tally of infections stands at 372. 

The country has gone 88 days without any community spread of the virus.

The two latest cases, two Vietnamese women returning from Russia on July 9, were announced on Sunday. 

350 patients were given the all-clear, accounting for 94.1 per cent. — VNS