More than two years ago, when Covid-19 broke out, Vietnam pursued a "Zero Covid" policy, which was suitable for the old strains and Vietnam’s situation at that time when the vaccine was fully unavailable. Also, people entering Vietnam had to show negative nCoV test results by a PCR or rapid test.

At present, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), Covid-19 cases and deaths have fallen on a global scale. The available vaccines are still effective against variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Many countries and territories have gradually relaxed anti-epidemic measures, including the requirement for Covid-19 testing for entry.

By the end of March 2022, more than 50 countries and territories suspended the requirement of pre-entry testing for international visitors. In Southeast Asia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand have also removed this regulation.

In Vietnam, the number of new Covid cases has decreased since the "reopening" day of March 15, and the vaccine coverage rate is among the highest in the world. On May 26, the new infection cases numbered only 1,275.

According to previous regulations, people entering Vietnam by air, road, waterway, railway need to test negative for nCoV by PCR within 72 hours or 24 hours by a quick test before arrival. This regulation made it difficult for people and international visitors to come to Vietnam in the early "opening" period.

Later, along with the new epidemic situation in the country, the Government's Resolution 128 on "Safely adapting, flexibly, effectively controlling the Covid-19 epidemic" was issued and many epidemic prevention and control regulations have been relaxed. Most recently, since May 15, people are no longer tested for SARS-CoV-2 virus when entering Vietnam.

Doctor Nguyen Lan Hieu, Director of the Hanoi Medical University Hospital and Binh Duong Provincial General Hospital, said that fewer countries now require a negative test before entry because the spread has subsided globally and the number of countries applying a "Zero Covid" policy is very few. Moreover, scientifically, the value of the Covid-19 test is limited and only for reference, he said.

“Timely and appropriate policy application is the key to success in the post-Covid-19 period in every country. If Covid breaks out with new strains, we will apply new measures," said Dr. Hieu.

Vietnam started to open up to international visitors from March 15, 2022. In the first four months of this year, international visitors to Vietnam reached nearly 192,400 arrivals, an increase of 184.7 percent over the same period last year.

To achieve and even exceed the goal of welcoming over 5 million international visitors this year, the abolition of Covid testing regulations is necessary.

Tuan Minh