HCMC – Vietnamese people returning from other countries will undergo home-based quarantine for seven days if they are fully-vaccinated against Covid-19, rather than being sent to centralized quarantine centers, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said yesterday, December 8.
Speaking at a meeting with representatives of the ministries of Health, Transport and other relevant agencies on measures to prevent Covid-19 transmissions from Vietnamese nationals and foreigners entering the country, Deputy PM Dam assigned the Ministry of Health to bring out guidance on quarantining and monitoring the health of people entering the country. The direction must be issued ahead of December 15, with similar instructions applied to locals moving between localities in the country.
People entering Vietnam will self-quarantine at home if they have been fully vaccinated and test negative for Covid-19 upon arrival, while unvaccinated people will be quarantined at specially-designated venues with the best conditions for them to get Covid-19 vaccines, Dam said.
Representatives of the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Labor noted that the demand to return to Vietnam was very dire among Vietnamese guest workers whose labor contracts abroad had expired, Vietnamese students who had completed their schooling abroad and local travelers stranded in other countries, among others.
However, these ministries are facing difficulties in addressing such demands given the Covid-19 situation in Vietnam, aggravated by the appearance of the Omicron variant.
The Ministry of Transport said it was working with partners in other countries to resume regular commercial flights, but whether such air services could be resumed was dependent on the reciprocal principle, while Vietnam has not yet specified who can enter the country on such commercial flights.
I was pleased to read that Vietnamese people who have been stuck abroad during the pandemic, will be allowed to quarantine at home when they arrive back in the country. Having to meet the cost of quarantining in a hotel – while understandable – is ‘one step too far’ for many Vietnamese people.