HCMC considers letting vaccinated Covid contact students attend school

Duong Tri Dung, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City's Department of Education and Training, said they will cooperate with the Department of Health to evaluate available data and see if vaccinated students who are close contacts of Covid-19 cases can attend on-site classes, local reports said.

Under current rules, students who are close contacts of Covid-19 cases must self-isolate for five days if they are fully vaccinated, or seven days if they're unvaccinated.

Nguyen Thi Huynh Mai, office head of the HCMC health department, said Monday that the proposal aims to "minimize impacts on students' studies." The students must continue to monitor their health and report any abnormality to medical authorities, she told local media.

HCMC has recorded nearly 587,000 Covid-19 cases so far, with 20,329 deaths. As Vietnam shifts from a "zero Covid" approach to one that adapts to the novel coronavirus, many schools have recorded rising numbers of Covid-19 cases among both its students and staff.