HCMC to Quang Binh flights halted amid soaring Covid count

By Hoang Phong June 22, 2021 | 10:45 pm PT

Passengers at Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCMC, February 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Gia Minh.

The Transport Ministry has suspended flights connecting HCMC with Quang Binh Province, dubbed Vietnam's cave kingdom, from Wednesday until the Covid-19 pandemic is brought under control.

The decision came after authorities in Quang Binh on Monday urged the ministry to suspend flights from HCMC to avoid the disease spreading as infections soar at an alarming rate across the southern metropolis.

Quang Binh has not yet recorded any community transmissions during the ongoing outbreak that hit the country on April 27. The central province requires everyone arriving from HCMC to be quarantined for 21 days and tested for Covid.

Quang Binh, a popular tourist attraction, is home to UNESCO heritage site Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park and boasts many limestone caves, including Son Doong, the world’s largest.

Earlier, the ministry had suspended flights from Hai Phong City, Quang Ninh Province, home to Ha Long Bay, and Gia Lai in the Central Highlands to HCMC for the same reason.

HCMC is now the second most affected locality in the country's fourth coronavirus wave with 2,013 cases. The city suspended traditional and ride-hailing taxi services, public buses and inter-provincial buses from Sunday as a preventive measure against the spread of Covid-19.

For the past two months, Vietnam's latest Covid wave has seen 10,575 infections recorded in 43 cities and provinces.