Foreign arrivals required to register accommodation upon booking flights to Vietnam

Airlines will be responsible for confirming whether passengers test negative for Covid-19 within three days before boarding flights in their host countries.

Foreign passengers must have their body temperatures checked and install Bluezone, a Vietnamese Bluetooth-based app that helps determine if a person has come into close contact with a Covid-19 patient, before boarding flights, the ministry stressed.

The government has allowed commercial flights to mainland China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan from September 15, followed by Laos, Cambodia to reopen from September 22, the Government Office said Tuesday evening.

However, the transport ministry said relevant authorities are working to determine Covid-19 testing procedures and quarantine expenses as well as sufficient quarantine facilities and medical staff before welcoming foreign passengers.

After reaching a conclusion, the transport ministry would allow airlines to release specific flight schedules.

So far, Vietnamese carriers have yet to reveal specific plans for two-way commercial flights to the six Asian destinations.

Under the government’s decision, passengers allowed entry include Vietnamese citizens, foreigners carrying diplomatic and official passports, experts, business managers, high-skilled workers, investors, and their family members, as well as international students and family members of Vietnamese citizens.

Vietnam suspended all international flights on March 25. Many foreigners who have been kept out of the country due to travel restrictions have pleaded with the government to reopen the borders and resume international flights so they could reunite with their families.

Upon landing in Vietnam, arrivals would be tested again via the RT-PRC method at centralized quarantine camps.

The quarantine period for those who test negative twice would be reduced from 14 to five days, following which they have to remain at their place of accommodation or work until the 14 days are up, under supervision of local authorities. Those showing signs of infection will have to remain at specified centralized quarantine facilities.

Under the transport ministry's proposal, there would be two weekly round trips on the HCMC-Guangzhou route, two weekly services on the Hanoi-Tokyo and HCMC-Tokyo routes, as well as four trips from Hanoi and HCMC to Seoul, along with four weekly trips to Taipei.

Vietnam's Covid-19 count is currently at 1,063, including 89 active cases. It has gone two weeks without a new domestic infection.