All employees of Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City and four other airports have tested negative for COVID-19 in a drive to prevent viral transmission in air travel.

Staff at Tan Son Nhat, Cam Ranh International Airport in Khanh Hoa Province, Can Tho International Airport in Can Tho City, Vinh International Airport in Nghe An Province, and Lien Khuong Airport in Lam Dong Province have all got the all-clear for the novel coronavirus, the state-run Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) said on Thursday.

The ACV operates all domestic and international airports in the Southeast Asian country.

The staff members of 16 out of the remaining 17 airports will also be screened for the contagious respiratory disease, the ACV added.

Those airports include Noi Bai in Hanoi, Da Nang in the namesake city, Phu Quoc on Kien Giang Province’s Phu Quoc Island, Cat Bi in Hai Phong, Phu Bai in Thua Thien-Hue Province, Buon Ma Thuot in Dak Lak Province, Phu Cat in Binh Dinh Province, Pleiku in Gia Lai Province, Chu Lai in Quang Nam Province, Tho Xuan in Thanh Hoa Province, Dong Hoi in Quang Binh Province, Tuy Hoa in Phu Yen Province, Con Dao in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, Dien Bien in Dien Bien Province, Rach Gia in Kien Giang Province, and Ca Mau in Ca Mau Province.

The testing drive is meant to ensure safety for passengers and aviation personnel during this peak travel time when the Lunar New Year festival, Vietnam’s biggest festive celebration, is a week away, the company explained.

Vietnam is battling a serious outbreak of coronavirus infections that began with two local cases announced on January 28, after the country had spent nearly two months detecting zero community transmissions.

A total of 375 communit-based cases have been recorded since then, according to the Ministry of Health’s data.

Two hundred and seventy-eight patients were logged in Hai Duong, 44 in Quang Ninh, 22 in Hanoi, 18 in Gia Lai, three in Bac Ninh, two in Hoa Binh, five in Binh Duong and one each in Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, and Bac Giang.

Most of the domestically-transmitted infections have been traced back to Hai Duong and Quang Ninh, both located in northern Vietnam.

The Southeast Asian country has officially documented 1,957 coronavirus patients, including 1,058 domestic cases, as of Friday morning, according to the Ministry of Health.

The government has announced 1,465 recoveries and virus-related 35 fatalities.

It confirmed 84 local transmissions on January 28, 62 on January 29, 61 on January 30, 31 on January 31, 32 on February 1, 31 on February 2, 28 on February 3, and 46 on February 4.

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