Children under quarantine in Dien Bien Province. Children aged below 16 in close contact with Covid-19 cases have been allowed to quarantine at home - PHOTO: VGP

After the 14-day home isolation, their health will be monitored for another two weeks. They and those taking care of them must be tested in line with regulations on home quarantine, the local media reported.

The ministry on August 25 issued new quarantine instructions for children as the pandemic has spread to most of the nation’s cities and provinces and many children have been put under quarantine or treatment.

To ensure safe and convenient conditions for children, the Ministry of Health also required that children aged below 18 who are foreigners or overseas Vietnamese entering Vietnam must stay at centralized quarantine centers for seven days and monitor their health for seven more days if they have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 or recovered from the disease.

Those who have yet to be fully vaccinated might have to undergo a 14-day quarantine period.

If the children’s relatives are in Vietnam, they will be quarantined at home with their relatives for 14 days. If the relatives cannot stay with the children, the local authorities must allocate people to take care of them.

Quarantine centers must protect children from assault and take care of their mental health.

The Ministry of Health in February regulated that only children aged below five in close contact with Covid-19 cases would stay at home, while those aged from five to 15 must be quarantined at concentrated quarantine facilities.

Source: Saigon Times