Health ministry guides inter-city, provincial commute

The Health Ministry issued the travel guidelines Sunday, saying people that have received two Covid-19 vaccine doses will not be tested or isolated if they move from a medium-risk area to an area of the same risk level, or an area where the ‘new normal’ has been established, like Ho Chi Minh City.

For the same route, those that have yet to be vaccinated or received just one jab must be self-isolated for seven days, during which they will be tested twice.

To travel from very high-risk and high-risk areas to places with the same or lower level, all must test negative within 72 hours before departure. In case travelers are fully vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19 within six months, they will be isolated at home for seven days and tested twice during that week. For those that have not been vaccinated or have got just one shot, the Health Department where they come to will arrange for them to be quarantined and tested.

People traveling from low-risk areas to places at higher risk will be guided by the Health Department of the destination to be tested and isolated when needed.

HCMC, epicenter of Vietnam’s latest Covid-19 wave, is drawing up a plan for people to travel between the city and neighboring Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Long An and Tay Ninh provinces. It is expected those with one vaccine shot or Covid-19 recoveries would be allowed to travel freely, given they test negative within seven days.