Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc ordered that Vietnam pauses all incoming flights.

The Prime Minister has decided to pause all incoming international commercial flights to Vietnam due to the latest COVID-19 cases. However, repatriation efforts will still continue allowing Vietnamese citizens to come home.

According to the head of the government office Mai Tien Dung, the sudden pause of all incoming flights is in connection with the government’s efforts to control the COVID-19 situation.

Vietnam’s 89-day consistent count was broken when a person in Ho Chi Minh was tested positive and was confirmed to have been infected by his flight attendant friend.

The government resumed its international flights in September after almost 6 months of prohibiting any incoming international travelers to the country. It has allowed seven Asian destinations – China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Lao, Cambodia and Thailand to enter its borders.

Alongside with this, local airlines were not allowed to operate inbound flights whilst the government is still in the process of finalizing quarantine procedures for foreign passengers.

The Prime Minister also requested to clarify what has transpired that resulted in the current case in Ho Chi Minh.

He also called out to the Ministry of Health and the city authorities to have a clear responsibility on every individual and organization involved in the quarantine process of the Patient 1342, a flight attendant of Vietnam Airlines.

He orders to strictly implement stronger methods to manage the quarantine process.

Due to its recent mishap which somehow proved its incompetency, the facility on Hong Ha street in Tan Binh has been suspended.

Accordingly, Patient 1342, who’s a flight attendant not only violated the rules of self-quarantine after meeting with his mother and two other friends.

He also violated the rules of the centralized camp of Vietnam Airlines.

As per Nguyen Tan Binh, the patient also intruded the space of a fellow flight crew and from there spread the virus which was caught by Patient 1325 last November 26.