Two-hundred and thirty Vietnamese citizens stranded in Malaysia due to border closures caused by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic were brought home on Thursday.

Flight VJ7012 and the returning Vietnamese nationals on board landed at Cam Ranh International Airport in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa at 1:30 pm on Thursday.

Each passenger had their health checked and body temperature measured by medical workers immediately upon landing.

None showed any sign of sickness, and all were brought directly from the airport to a military-run facility in neighboring Ninh Thuan Province, where they will undergo 14 days of government-mandated COVID-19 quarantine.

According to Le Vu Chuong, director of Ninh Thuan Province’s Department of Health, the provincial Center for Disease Control sampled the returnees for COVID-19 testing on the evening of their arrival. Results of the tests are still pending.

Ninh Thuan vice-chairman Le Van Binh has urged health staff and military personnel involved in the repatriation initiative to remain calm, cautious, attentive, and careful to avoid mistakes at all costs during the implementation of the quarantine period for the 230 citizens.

Vietnam, which has logged 911 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic first hit in January, requires that all arrivals from foreign countries be quarantined for 14 days.

Among the country's confirmed COVID-19 patients, 327 were imported while 584 were the result of community transmission.

The Southeast Asian country has documented 425 recoveries from the disease and 21 virus-related deaths.

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