Vietnam flies home 345 people from Russia

The flight operated by Vietnam Airlines landed at Van Don Airport in the northern province of Quang Ninh on Wednesday morning with students under the age of 18, seniors, people in extremely difficult financial circumstances, tourists whose visas had expired, and workers who had lost their jobs.

They underwent medical checks before boarding and wore face masks throughout the flight.

After filling in health declarations, the passengers went to public quarantines and had samples taken for Covid-19 tests.

Earlier, while flying from Hanoi to Moscow, the aircraft had taken Russian citizens stranded in Vietnam due to travel restrictions home. Last month the Russian government had organized special flights to repatriate nearly 400 of its citizens from Vietnam.

Around 80,000 Vietnamese are living in Russia, which has reported over 232,000 infections and 2,116 deaths as of Wednesday.

In April and May Vietnam has operated special flights to repatriate thousands of people from Southeast Asian countries as well as Canada, France, Japan, the UAE and the U.S.

Bamboo Airways is expected to organize a flight on Thursday to bring 195 Vietnamese citizens from the Philippines.

Vietnam has recorded 288 Covid-19 cases so far, with 252 having recovered and been discharged from hospitals. The country has recorded no community transmission in the last 27 days.