Hai Phong, Quang Ninh propose suspending flights from HCMC as Covid spikes

In a proposal sent to the Ministry of Transport, Nguyen Thi Hanh, vice chairwoman of Quang Ninh, home to world famous Ha Long Bay, asked to suspend all flights from HCMC to Van Don International Airport and vice versa until the Covid situation in the southerm metropolis is put under control.

The northern port city of Hai Phong, home to industrial parks and foreign tech giants, also proposed the suspension of all flights from Cat Bi Airport to Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCMC and vice versa.

The proposals came as Vietnam's largest city has been grappling with a surge in community transmissions over the past week, mainly linked to the cluster at Revival Ekklesia Mission, a self-described Christian congregation.

Quang Ninh and Hai Phong currently require all those arriving from HCMC to be sent to centralized quarantine facilities for 21 days and tested for Covid-19.

Aviation authorities limited domestic flights to and from Tan Son Nhat, the country's largest airport, for two weeks starting Tuesday as Covid-19 infections rise alarmingly in the southern metropolis.

Currently, there are four daily return flights allowed to operate on the Hai Phong-HCMC route while only two flights are permitted a week on the HCMC-Van Don route.

The city of 13 million people entered two weeks of social distancing starting Monday. So far, it has recorded 277 infections during the fourth wave, with around 260 of them linked to the religious mission.