More than 200 passengers who arrived in Vietnam from Qatar on Tuesday were asked to fill out health declaration forms, as part of a new regulation on epidemic prevention that took effect the same day.

>> Ministry warns about risk of MERS-CoV spread to Vietnam>> Vietnam airport tightens medical screening for MERS-CoV

Such health declarations are required for all visitors who come to Vietnam by air from nine countries affected by the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome caused by the Corona virus (MERS-CoV), according to a new regulation issued by the Vietnamese Ministry of Health. Under the new rule, visitors from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan and Iran are required to make health declarations upon entry. The Ministry of Health decided to make the new move following the fact that the MERS-CoV has so far spread widely in the world and killed hundreds of patients. As of June 26, the disease had spread to 22 countries and territories in the world, affecting over 820 people and killing 286 (nearly 35 percent) since it first appeared in Saudi Arabia in 2012, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported. 

The new regulation has been applied at three international airports: Noi Bai in Hanoi, Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang in central Da Nang City.

International health quarantine centers in the three localities are responsible for issuing and providing health declaration forms – written in English and Vietnamese – to visitors.

Health quarantine staff at these airports must take care of the health declarations and affix a stamp on filled-out health declaration forms for certification. Yesterday, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long arrived at Noi Bai to supervise the implementation of the new ruling.

Any travelers who suffer from coughing or fever, as well as other symptoms of the MERS-CoV, must be treated in isolation and reported to the local health authorities, the regulation said.

As much as 75 percent of the recent MERS-CoV cases have been transmitted from human to human, the ministry said.

Vietnam has yet to detect anyone infected with MERS-CoV, but the virus may penetrate into the country in the future, as there are a large number of Vietnamese guest workers in the Middle East, said Tran Dac Phu, head of the ministry’s Preventive Health Department.

He also revealed that the Philippines and Malaysia, two Southeast Asian countries, have recorded MERS-CoV infections among the people who returned home from their visits to the Middle East. Anyone with symptoms of the syndrome, such as fever, coughing, or difficulty breathing, should go to medical facilities for examinations and treatment, he added.

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