VIETNAM BRINGS BACK COVID-19 PROTOCOLS FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORT

With renewed local transmission of Covid-19, Vietnam has returned to pandemic prevention protocols on aircraft, trains, ships, and buses.

The Ministry of Transport on Sunday instructed all transport operators to install hand sanitizers, ensure everyone, including staff, wear face masks in stations and on vehicles and check all passengers’ temperatures.

All passengers on long-distance vehicles must complete health declaration procedures.

Operators are encouraged to open vehicles’ windows to let the air flow in instead of shutting them and turning on air-conditioners. Experts have advised health authorities based on their experience in treating Covid-19 patients that the new coronavirus loses virility in sunny and airy places.

All these protocols had been made mandatory in March when community transmission was at its peak.

Since April 16 the country had gone 99 days without a single local case of infection.

However, on July 25 a man in the central city of Da Nang was diagnosed with Covid-19, and then three more cases of community transmission were found the next day in the city and nearby Quang Ngai Province.

Authorities are still searching for the source of infection.

From today Da Nang has social distancing requirements in place, which means non-essential services are shut down, people should only leave home for emergencies, buying food or medicines or going to factories, production facilities and businesses related to "essential" goods and services.

People must maintain a distance of at least two meters from each other, and no gathering of more than two is allowed in public.

It is estimated that 80,000 visitors are now stranded in Da Nang, and airlines are still operating flights to the city to evacuate them.

Of Vietnam’s 420 Covid-19 cases to date, 55 are still in hospital and the rest have recovered.

Source: Vnexpress