Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has announced that the country will continue organizing repatriation flights, while large-scale social distancing shall not be implemented in the current situation.

In a message sent to competent authorities on Wednesday, the premier stated his directions regarding multiple important issues in the country’s COVID-19 prevention and control efforts.

With regard to recently-announced local infections in Ho Chi Minh City, PM Phuc tasked the municipal People’s Committee with tracking all people who had direct and indirect contact with the patients to prevent the disease from spreading further into the community.

The Ministry of Transport was charged with imposing suitable penalties upon the individuals and organizations responsible, he stated, adding that the Ministry of Health and the Ho Chi Minh City administration will supervise this process.

A detailed report must be submitted to the central government when this task is finished.

Phuc allowed local airlines to continue arranging flights that transport diplomats, experts, investors, skilled workers, and their relatives to Vietnam, as well as flights carrying Vietnamese workers to other countries in order to continue boosting economic recovery.

He asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to coordinate with the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Transport in the repatriation of Vietnamese citizens, as well as making sure the number of arrivals fits the capacity of local quarantine facilities.

However, Vietnamese citizens are only allowed to return to the country in necessary cases.

The list of people whose repatriation is approved will then be sent to the Ministry of Public Security for immigration procedures.

All inbound international flights must ensure strict implementation of epidemic prevention and control measures according to regulations, the prime minister said.

All international arrivals must be quarantined at military-run facilities and other venues that meet requirements promulgated by local authorities.

Local authorities must tighten supervision of the quarantine process to prevent cross infections in the community.

If local infections are detected, social distancing measures will only be applied to areas at high risk, while large-scale restrictions should not be implemented to minimize negative impacts on livelihoods and production and business activities.

The premier also tasked the Ministry of Health with making a plan on cooperating with other countries in producing and purchasing COVID-19 vaccines.

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