All airlines have been asked to stop transporting overseas Vietnamese to Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City from March 25 to 31 to prevent overcrowding at quarantine facilities in the southern metropolis.

The Ministry of Transport has requested the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) to inform all airlines of the new decision, as quarantine camps in Ho Chi Minh City can no longer receive people coming from foreign nations.

Flights carrying overseas Vietnamese will instead be directed to airports in other provinces and cities, depending on the capacity of local isolation facilities.

The CAAV was also told to provide favorable conditions for flights that transport foreign citizens in Vietnam back to their home countries.

Since March 18, many flights traveling from other nations to Tan Son Nhat have already been redirected to Can Tho International Airport in the namesake Mekong Delta city.

The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has infected nearly 381,500 and killed more than 16,500 globally as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

Vietnam has confirmed 123 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases, with 17 having already walked out of the hospital free of the virus.

No death from the disease has been recorded in the country so far.

From March 21, all incoming travelers to Vietnam have been isolated for 14 days as part of more assertive measures to curb the spread of the epidemic.

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