The Federal Palace of Switzerland in Bern (Photo: Reuters)

The Vietnamese mission to the United Nations, the WTO and other international organisations in Geneva has devised plans and assigned specific tasks to staff members in responding to emergency situations, such as taking Vietnamese nationals to hospital, repatriating citizens, or support the Vietnamese community.

Meanwhile, the Embassy of Vietnam in Bern continues to issue updates to the Vietnamese community about new developments of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rapid spread of the pandemic in Switzerland has prompted many airlines to cancel flights from the Central European nation, making it more difficult for Vietnamese citizens, particularly students, to return home.

The Vietnamese Embassy has urged Vietnamese citizens to closely follow regulations issued by Swiss authorities and health officials, as well as avoid crowds, stay at home and only go outside if necessary.

They are advised to contact the COVID-19 hotline for advice if they suspect they have contracted the disease, and keep a close eye on their flight status if they’re coming back to Vietnam.

They can contact airline ticket agent EuroAsia at Konizstrasse 228, 3097 Liebefeld (Bern) or call the company at 031 971 9787 and 079 222 4228 for information provided in Vietnamese on flights to Vietnam.

As of March 19, the number of COVID-19 cases in Switzerland had surged to nearly 4,000. The country has decided to suspend visa issuance from March 19 to June 15, and close its borders with Italy, Germany, Austria and France.

Vietnamese people’s charity works show solidarity with Czech amid COVID-19

Vietnamese people hand over masks to Mayor of Vestec in Czech Svec Tibor.

Vietnamese people in the Czech Republic have shown solidarity with the local community in combating the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) through a number of charity and relief projects, local media reported on March 19.

Medical, police and emergency units in the Czech Republic have suffered shortages of face masks and quick test kits amid the rapid spread of the pandemic across Europe.

To solve this problem, Vietnamese people in the European country together with the locals have been sewing home-made masks and giving them to people and places in need.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese restaurants and food stores have also shouldered responsibility by offering police as well as health and emergency workers free food and drinks like tea and coffee.

So far, Vietnamese people have presented 6,000 masks and protective gloves to the governments of Vyssi Brod and Cesky Krumlove, while hundreds of masks have also been given to the governments of Ricany and Vectek and hospitals in Znojmo and Prague.

The Vietnamese community has also created a website named covidinfo.cz to provide regular updates on the situation and called on people to provide interpretation services for Vietnamese who do not speak Czech.

The Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic was recognised as an ethnic minority group in the East European country in 2013, now numbering about 70,000./. VNA

COVID-19: UK Ambassador thanks Vietnamese doctors, Gov’t officials

UK Ambassador to Vietnam Gareth Ward has recently made a clip in Vietnamese language, thanking Vietnam for its support for British citizens and tourists amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

How Vietnam sacrifices economy to protect its people?

Taking tough measures for the safety of people has become the government's top priority.