All commercial flights to Vietnam be suspended, says PM
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PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc orders suspending all international flights to Vietnam to prevent possible spread of the COVID-19 disease in the country. (Photo: VGP).
All passengers of coming flights must be placed in quarantine over 14 days, Phuc told a meeting in Hanoi with permanent Cabinet members discussing COVID-19 prevention measures.
The decision was made after a Vietnam Airlines flight attendant had violated quarantine regulations in Ho Chi Minh City, transmitting the SARS-CoV-2 virus onto a Vietnamese teacher who later passed the virus onto another two local residents.
Local authorities in Ho Chi Minh City scrambled to track down, isolate and test those who had close contact with the four newly detected patients.
PM Phuc then called for full engagement of the whole political system in the fight against COVID-19 in the spirit of raising a high sense of responsibility and vigilance in all localities, especially in big cities and densely populated areas. He asked people to strictly realize the 5K message delivered by the Ministry of Health, with a primary focus on wearing face masks and washing hands.
“We have to continue to implement the strategy that has proved effective in the previous two outbreaks, that includes tightly controlling the virus from outside, zoning off areas thoroughly from inside, and treating patients effectively and responsibly,” said Phuc.
The Government leader asked HCM City authorities to trace and isolate all those in direct and indirect contact with the four community cases to nip in the bud a new possible outbreak.
He asked the Ministry of Transport to make clear and strictly deal with those who are held accountable for the resurgence of the virus in HCM City. He directed the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Health to tighten quarantine regulations for flight attendants to avoid similar violations.
The Ministry of Health reported two more community cases and two imported cases on the afternoon of December 1.
Of the two locally transmitted cases confirmed in HCM City, one is a female student of the infected teacher and the other is a one-year-old child who came in direct contact with the teacher.
Vietnam has recorded four new community cases since the last detected approximately three months ago.
