297 Vietnamese returnees from UAE quarantined in Mekong Delta

The returnees, including children, students under 18, the elderly and unemployed workers, came on Vietnam Airlines flight VN88. They have been quarantined at the dormitory of Bac Lieu University in the eponymous province by local military authorities.

The province has prepared facilities to place up to 2,100 people under quarantine.

As of Sunday morning, the UAE had confirmed 13,599 Covid-19 cases with 119 deaths.

Vietnam marked its 9th consecutive day with no new Covid-19 infection and 17th day with no community transmission on Sunday morning.

As the pressure on isolation facilities in Vietnam eases, the government is planning to repatriate Vietnamese abroad who want to return home. The country has brought home nearly 5,300 citizens from pandemic-hit areas since early February.

The Can Tho Airport had also welcomed 320 Vietnamese returning from Singapore and Indonesia, who were placed under quarantined upon arrival on April 24 and 26.

On Friday, 276 Vietnamese citizens from Canada landed at the Van Don Airport in the northern province of Quang Ninh Province before being taken to local quarantine centers.

A flight repatriating Vietnamese citizens from the U.S. on Saturday was delayed due to a "lack of license", according to the Vietnamese embassy in the country, which is a Covid-19 hotspot with more than 1.1 million cases and 67,000 deaths. The flight, which was supposed to take off from San Francisco, California, will be operated after all procedures are completed, officials said. 

Local carriers said last month they would deploy 13 special flights in the coming weeks to bring home Vietnamese citizens stranded by travel restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.