A train of the Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro project in Hanoi. Tang Hong, director of the project, has been placed in quarantine after he returned to Vietnam from China for work - PHOTO: VNA

He is the only Chinese expert involved in the China-funded project to return to Vietnam and is now being quarantined, said Vu Hong Phuong, deputy director of the Railway Project Management Unit under the Ministry of Transport.

As Hong has an official passport, he was granted a visa to enter Vietnam, while other Chinese experts associated with the project only hold ordinary passports, Phuong added.

Hong will complete the mandatory quarantine period on March 9 before he resumes work, Phuong added.

The Chinese government has restricted its citizens from traveling to other countries in an effort to contain the spread of the virus, which emerged in this country in December. Therefore, Chinese experts of the metro project have not been able to get back to Vietnam for work.

Accordingly, the Railway Project Management Unit petitioned the transport ministry to request the national steering committee for coronavirus infection prevention and control to consider the issuance of visas to Chinese experts working on the project.

As for the execution of the project, Transport Minister Nguyen Van The ordered that every effort be made to assist the project.

The Hanoi side has made hotel accommodation arrangements for the quarantined Chinese experts. An adequate amount of equipment needed for online work was set up there as well, according to the minister.

Last month, over 100 Chinese experts and employees working on the project had reportedly returned to China to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

They were originally expected to come back on February 1 and start operating the metro system on a trial basis for 20 days. However, their return was rescheduled due to the epidemic. SGT

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