Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked the foreign affairs ministry to ban entry to nationals from countries hit by the novel coronavirus outbreak, state media said on Wednesday.
The ban will focus on countries hardest hit by the virus, such as Italy, Iran, South Korea, and Japan.
South Korea has become one of the most affected countries, with more than 1,200 cases reported as of Wednesday, leading to fear that visitors from the nation could bring the virus back to Vietnam.
There are currently 83 people in quarantine in Ho Chi Minh City and the coastal city of Da Nang who recently arrived in Vietnam on flights from Daegu, the South Korean city at the centre of that country’s outbreak.
Eighteen South Koreans who refused quarantine upon arriving in Vietnam were sent home on Wednesday.
Vietnam also announced that cargo ships arriving from South Korea at the northern port city of Hai Phong will be screened for infection.Out of the 16 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Vietnam, all patients have now been cured and released from quarantine.
The last patient, a 50-year-old man, was given the all-clear and left hospital on Tuesday.
There have been no officially confirmed cases of coronavirus in Vietnam in the last two week.
dpa/NAN
