Border guards in Tây Ninh Province on duty for COVID-19 prevention and control. —VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Tân

HCM CITY — Border guard forces and agencies in cities and provinces are strictly monitoring travel through border gates to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Border Guard Command has set up eight task forces to oversee disease prevention and control at border areas such as Lạng Sơn and Lai Châu. The command has increased the number of border guards at the front lines at main border gates.  

At border gates in the northern province of Lạng Sơn, for instance, 103 guards have been added. After the Tết holiday, tents were set up along border guard stations to prevent illegal entry, and more than 100 people connected to illegal entries have been detained.    

Colonel Nguyễn Xuân Thủy, deputy head of the Border Guard Force in Lai Châu Province, said that travel through the auxiliary border crossings in the province is under strict control. The province has 64 teams to patrol along the 273-kilometre border, and has also worked with health officials to transport people who have crossed border areas to quarantine areas.

Border guards in Quảng Ninh Province have set up 74 sites and eight mobile teams with a total of 495 soldiers on duty day and night at the province’s main border roads.   

Police, local authorities and agencies, especially in the border districts of Hải Hà and Bình Liêu, and Móng Cái City, are working together to tighten control along the border. They also have strengthened management of workers on ships that arrive at ports in the province.

At Tây Ninh Province’s border gates and trails, border guards have strict patrols and will fine violators who try to illegally help people travel through border trails, said Colonel Lê Văn Vỹ, deputy head of Border Guard Force, in the province.

They are also checking COVID-19 prevention and control methods to correct any shortcomings, and are preparing preventive equipment and means to respond quickly for prevention and control.

People travelling through border gates and trails are required to fill out health declaration forms and stay in quarantine under the Government’s requirements.

The vice chairman of Kiên Giang Province People’s Committee, Lâm Minh Thành, has instructed police and relevant forces to assist the patrol and control of COVID-19 at border gates. The Border Guard Command in the Mekong Delta province must strictly control cross-border activities via trails or rivers, he said.

As many as 1,598 teams with 9,398 guards and other relevant forces are patrolling and controlling travel at border gates and trails throughout the country. They have detained 4,360 people who have illegally crossed through border gates and trails, and have quarantined all of them.

Lieutenant General Hoàng Xuân Chiến, Deputy Minister of National Defence, said that besides strict control at border gates and patrols, border guards should inform people about preventive measures against COVID-19 and the punishment for illegal crossings through border gates and trails.

Border guards have carried out procedures for entry to Việt Nam for 137,877 people and for 119, 235 people departing Việt Nam. — VNS