Vietnam quarantine camps to cost foreign nationals $5 a day

The government has approved the Ministry of Finance’s recommendation that a person has to pay VND80,000 for food and VND40,000 for other daily necessities.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out last January, the government has quarantined people arriving in the country at its facilities or military camps for 14 days, but for free before September 1.

Those preferring to quarantine themselves at hotels and resorts have to pay VND1.2-5 million a day in Hanoi and HCMC.

The government has also mandated that all foreigners arriving in the country need to have international medical insurance that will bear all the medical and other expenses if they contract the disease in Vietnam.

They have to pay for Covid-19 tests while Vietnamese will continue to receive free check-ups and treatment.

They also need to register accommodation address before booking flights to Vietnam.

The government has allowed the resumption of commercial air services to mainland China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan from September 15, and to Laos and Cambodia on September 22.

But Vietnamese carriers have yet to reveal specific plans for two-way commercial flights to the six Asian destinations as relevant authorities are working to finalize Covid-19 testing procedures as well as sufficient quarantine facilities and medical staff before welcoming foreign passengers.

For the moment, the only foreigners to be allowed are those with diplomatic and official passports, experts, business managers, high-skilled workers, and investors, their family members, international students, and family members of Vietnamese citizens.

On landing, people must furnish a certificate confirming they tested negative for Covid-19 within three days before boarding the flight, but will be taken to quarantine camps first and tested further using the RT-PRC method. People who are tested negative for the coronavirus twice can leave the camps after five days and be quarantined at other facilities like their home, workplace or hotels to finish the 14-day isolation under the Health Ministry protocols.

Vietnam suspended all international flights on March 25.

Many foreigners who have been locked out of the country due to travel bans have pleaded with the government to reopen the borders and resume international flights so that they could reunite with their families.

Vietnam has had 1,066 Covid-19 cases so far, 88 of them active, including 35 deaths.

There has been no community transmission for two weeks.