Over 430 domestic visitors who have been unable to leave Da Nang as the central city entered social distancing to stem the spread of COVID-19 last week are expected to be returned to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City on two flights, the Da Nang Department of Tourism said on Monday evening.

Da Nang requested authorities in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City collaborate in the organization of the two special flights.

The stranded visitors will have to pay for the flights’ tickets with registration open at the Da Nang Visitor Center until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 4.

The Da Nang Visitor Center is located at 108 Bach Dang Street in Hai Chau District. Its hotline number is 0236 3550 111.

Those wishing to register for a seat on one of the flights are expected to provide the center with a confirmation letter from their current accommodation in Da Nang to prove that they cannot leave the city due to the COVID-19 social distancing rules, and a copy or a photo of their flight bookings, flight tickets, train tickets, passenger bus tickets or tour bookings to verify their means of transport to the city.

Those who are staying at a friend’s or relative’s house will need to acquire confirmation from the local authorities regarding their temporary residency, in addition to the two aforementioned papers.

Enhanced social distancing rules have been implemented in Da Nang since July 28 in accordance with prime minister directive No. 16 on urgent measures against COVID-19, after the city recorded Vietnam’s first community-based COVID-19 case after 99 days on July 25 and continued logging a drove of related cases in the following days.

The social distancing measures are being implemented in six districts namely Hai Chau, Thanh Khe, Son Tra, Ngu Hanh Son, Cam Le and Lien Chieu, while the city has placed three hospitals and an area surrounding them on lockdown after many infections were reported there. 

Citizens are requested to stay home and only go out under absolutely necessary circumstances, and maintain a minimum distance of two meters in social interaction.

Gatherings of more than two people outside public offices, schools, hospitals, and in public spaces in general are banned while all non-essential businesses must be shuttered.

All domestic flights and bus and train services to and from Da Nang have also been suspended for 15 days since July 28.

While tens of thousands of domestic tourists left Da Nang before the social distancing period began, over 430 people failed to exit the central city before the travel ban.

Most of the stranded visitors come from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the Da Nang Department of Tourism’s deputy director Nguyen Xuan Binh said on Monday morning.

The visitors will be quarantined upon their return to the two cities, according to the municipal tourism department.

Da Nang has reported 142 cases of COVID-19 so far, with four deaths, since July 25.

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