277 Vietnamese return home from Cuba, Germany

Vietnam's first repatriation flight from Cuba took off from the capital Havana with 61 passengers, made a stopover at Frankfurt and picked up another 216 people and arrived at Van Don Airport in the northern province of Quang Ninh.

The passengers were mainly children, students, elderly and sick people, pregnant women, workers whose labor contracts had expired, and stranded tourists.

They underwent medical checks before boarding, were quarantined on arrival, and their samples have been taken for testing.

Cuba has reported over 2,400 cases of Covid-19 and 87 deaths so far.

Germany is Europe's fifth worst affected country with over 205,000 infections and 9,187 deaths.

Vietnam has so far repatriated over 2,000 of its citizens from Europe.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said at a press briefing last week that 13,323 Vietnamese have been brought back on 55 flights since April 10.

Dinh Viet Thang, head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, said 50 more flights would bring another 13,000 people home by the end of next month.

Authorities have warned that community infection could return to Vietnam with the repatriation of its citizens and the entry of foreign specialists and highly skilled workers.

Vietnam has to date recorded 412 cases of Covid-19. There has been no community transmission for over three months.