Vietnam abolishes visa exemption for Italian citizens in efforts to control Covid-19

Vietnam ready to cope with new infections

The information was confirmed by Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam during a meeting of the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control, held in Hanoi on March 2.

Accordingly, in order to prevent the spread of the disease in the community, the Government of Vietnam has decided to suspend the unilateral exemption of visas for Italian citizens starting from March 3.

Earlier, Vietnam decided to halt visa exemption for Korean citizens from 0:00 on February 29, while applying medical isolation to all passengers flying to Vietnam from the Republic of Korea (RoK), or who have passed through the country within 14 days prior to coming to Vietnam.

As of this morning, Vietnam has not record any new cases of Covid-19, but the country still has to be ready for any situation as new infection cases may appear in the near future, Deputy PM Dam said.

Reports from the Steering Committee showed that there are 115 cases are in medical isolation, while the total number of people who’ve had close contact with suspected cases and those returning to Vietnam from epidemic areas, who are under health monitoring, stands at 10,089.

All 16 of the confirmed cases so far have recovered and were discharged from hospital, including 11 cases from Vinh Phuc Province. No new cases have been reported in the last 20 days. Son Loi Commune, in Binh Xuyen District, Vinh Phuc Province, where six confirmed cases have been reported, has been in isolation for 20 days. Tomorrow morning, Son Loi will be freed from medical isolation according to regulations.

At the meeting, health experts affirmed that with the drastic and synchronous participation of the entire political system, Vietnam has done a good job in controlling the disease. However, Deputy PM Dam emphasised that there are new developments, requiring the anti-epidemic tactics to be changed to suit the situation.

According to the deputy PM, the source of the virus is not from only China, as before, but also from the RoK, Iran, Italy and more than 60 other countries and territories across the world. Therefore, it is difficult to detect the source of infection, as Vietnam cannot close its door to the world, Dam said, stressing the need to anticipate every situation, carry out necessary measures and stay vigilant in case new infections occur.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam (standing) speaks at a meeting of the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control, Hanoi, March 2, 2020. (Photo: VGP)

Whether the source of infection is discovered or not, it is important to quickly quarantine and treat the infected patients and those with close contact to prevent the disease from spreading, he stressed.

For Vietnamese people returning from the RoK, the Deputy PM asked for strict concentrated quarantine. Regarding Koreans entering Vietnam, he asked relevant agencies to proactively arrange airports to receive flights from the RoK and apply isolation measures to ensure absolute safety.

Against the new development of the disease, the detection is put on top, he said, urging all people and all the agencies and units to participate in the anti-epidemic work and detect suspicious cases for timely medical measures.

The Deputy PM also asked the Ministry of Health (MoH) to continue providing professional training and strengthening connectivity and IT application to all health facilities from the commune level upwards to help them understand what to do when there are new cases of infection or suspected infection.

Speeding up the development of Covid-19 test kits

During the meeting, the Steering Committee listened to a report on the initial results of the SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic test kit which was developed jointly by the Military Medical University and Viet A Corporation.

A representative from the Ministry of Science and Technology said that the test kit is feasible and could be put into production at a capacity of 10,000 test kits a day.

Deputy PM Dam requested that the MoH and the Ministry Science and Technology accelerate the development of the test kit for mass production in service of Covid-19 prevention.

According to the MoH, as of 14:30 on March 2, the world has recorded 89,212 Covid-19 confirmed cases across 67 countries and territories, with 3,051 resulting in death. In which 80,026 infection cases have been confirmed in mainland China, with 2,913 among them having died from the deadly virus.