HCMC – The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has written to the Ministry of Transport proposing indefinitely suspending flights, including repatriation ones, to Vietnam from 10 countries in Africa to prevent the mutant Omicron Covid-19 variant from spreading to the country.
The 10 African countries where the mutant strain has been detected are Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Angola and Zambia, the local media reported.
The proposal followed the prime minister’s directive on tighter border control over people arriving from countries that have detected Omicron.
The authority proposed banning the entry of people who have traveled to these countries in the last 30 days.
The aviation authority also urged the Ministry of Health to issue detailed guidelines on medical precautions, quarantine and restrictions for passengers arriving from countries that have found Omicron cases such as Japan and South Korea.
To promptly detect passengers infected with Omicron, the authority also proposed the Ministry of Public Security tighten control over the entry from nations that have discovered Omicron cases at local airports.
According to CAAV, on November 30, the International Civil Aviation Organization wrote to its members warning them of the rapid spread of Omicron following the World Health Organization’s official announcement on November 26.
Earlier on November 29, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh ordered the competent agencies to tighten border control over people arriving from nations that have detected the new coronavirus variant to prevent the mutant strain from entering the country.
