Vietnam repatriates 340 citizens from Japan

The flight, organized jointly by Vietnamese and Japanese authorities, landed at Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport, a Foreign Ministry statement said Monday. 

The returnees included people in difficulties, children under 18, the elderly, the sick, those with underlying conditions, pregnant women, overseas workers whose visas had expired and students who had completed their studies in Japan.

All the arrivals underwent medical examinations and were quarantined on arrival as per Vietnam’s Covid-19 control protocol.

The Vietnam Airlines flight to Japan that brought the citizens back also delivered a shipment of medical masks as a gift from Vietnam.

This is Vietnam’s second repatriation flight from Japan. On April 22, Vietnam had brought home nearly 300 citizens as well after delivering some medical supplies.

Japan declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus pandemic in April. The order has been lifted in most provinces in the country with the number of new cases plummeting. The country has recorded more than 16,581 infection cases and more than 830 deaths due to the novel coronavirus.

Vietnam will continue to deploy commercial flights to bring citizens home based on the citizens’ demand and isolation capacity in the country as well as the development of the pandemic.

To date, around 4,000 Vietnamese citizens have been repatriated from many countries, including the world’s biggest epicenters like the U.S. and Russia.