A Vietnam Airlines airplane lands at  Vân Đồn International Airport. Nearly 350 Vietnamese citizens returned home  from Australia on a repatriation flight of Vietnam Airlines on Saturday. VNA/VNS Illustrative Photo

 QUẢNG NINH - Nearly 350 Vietnamese citizens have returned home from Australia.

The Vietnam Airlines repatriation flight landed on September 12 at Vân Đồn International Airport in the northern province of Quảng Ninh.

All onboard, including the flight crew, were immediately quarantined upon arrival.

The flight was arranged by Vietnamese authorities, the Vietnamese Embassy in Australia, national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines and Australian authorities.

The passengers included children aged under 18, the elderly, pregnant women, workers whose visas or labour contracts expired, students with no residences due to dormitory closures and those in difficult circumstances

The Vietnamese Embassy in Australia sent staff to the airport to assist the citizens with procedures until they boarded the flight.

Vietnam Airlines has strictly implemented in-flight security and disease preventive measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

In the future, more flights are set to be conducted to repatriate Vietnamese citizens with disadvantaged circumstances, depending on their need and quarantine capacity at home.

Meanwhile, there were no new COVID-19 cases recorded in the country on Sunday morning.

The total number of people to contract coronavirus since the first case back in January remains at 1,060.

That figure includes 691 locally-transmitted cases, with 551 related to the outbreak in the central city of Đà Nẵng since July 25.

A total of 910 patients have been given the all-clear. There have been 35 fatalities so far. 

Among the active patients, 16 have tested negative for the novel coronavirus once, 17 twice, and 21 three times.

As many as 36,299 people having close contact with those infected with the virus or coming from pandemic-hit regions are under quarantine nationwide.— VNS