People load their luggage into a truck to head to a quarantine center after entering Vietnam. The prime minister has asked that the entry of foreign experts be reviewed. – Photo: VNA

The four other ministries involved in the task are the Ministries of Health, National Defense, Public Security and Transport, according to an announcement of the Government Office on May 11, the local media reported.

The Government leader also asked some localities, especially those along the southwestern border, to review and learn from experience as they failed to ensure an adequate Covid-19 testing capacity. The Ministry of Health must direct the provision of testing kits and other equipment and instructions for these localities.

According to the Government, the current fourth Covid-19 wave is more dangerous than the three previous waves as it has more hotspots and has spread on a larger scale and the new coronavirus variants are more transmissible. Therefore, controlling the pandemic is more difficult and the risk of widespread transmission is high.

The prime minister asked the competent agencies to take drastic measures to rapidly detect infected cases, lock down pandemic-hit areas on the smallest possible scale and treat patients. Existing pandemic hotspots must be eliminated while new ones must be prevented.

He also asked the Ministry of Health to report response plans in case of a 30,000-Covid-19-patients-nationwide scenario. The ministry must instruct localities to prepare human resources, equipment, medicines and field hospitals and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to issue instructions on spending policies amid the pandemic.

On April 28, the national steering committee for Covid-19 infection prevention and control issued regulations on the entry of foreigners and Vietnamese citizens into the country. Accordingly, those under consideration to enter Vietnam include foreign experts, investors, managers, high-skilled laborers and their family members; those entering Vietnam for diplomatic purposes; students studying in Vietnam; Vietnamese entrepreneurs, intellectuals, students, old people, those with invalid employment contracts and visas; Vietnamese people travelling abroad for checkups and treatment, among others.

The licensing of the entry of these people must be in line with the approved plan and local quarantine capacity. The prime minister of the national steering committee for Covid-19 infection prevention and control must be consulted in case of special cases.

Units petitioning for the entry must have business registration certificates and licenses with business lines corresponding to the purposes of entrants. Meanwhile, units proposing organizing commercial flights to repatriate Vietnam citizens must get an approval in writing from the Ministries of Health, Foreign Affairs, Transport, National Defense and Public Security; provincial or municipal governments’ agreement to quarantine those arrive from abroad as well as the prime minister’s approval.

SGT

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