Serious congestion occurred at the entrance of the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, home to popular tourist destination Dat Lat City, over the weekend due to a surge in the number of arrivals from Ho Chi Minh City and other southern localities.

A lot of people from Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau came to Lam Dong between Friday and Sunday, resulting in congestion at the COVID-19 checkpoint at the Chuoi Pass.

The checkpoint was often packed with people scrambling to file health declarations.

Statistics from the management board showed that a total of 4,417 vehicles with 6,216 people arrived in the province on Friday.

Among them, there were 2,459 automobiles, about 1.5 times higher than regular days.

On Saturday and Sunday, approximately 4,000 vehicles carrying 5,000 people came to the locality daily.

Everyone complied with pandemic prevention and control regulations, said Lieutenant Colonel Pham Van Chi, head of the checkpoint.

However, it was difficult to make sure that people kept a safe distance from one another as the facility was always crowded.

As part of the pandemic response measures, all arrivals to Lam Dong Province are required to file health declarations at the COVID-19 checkpoint at the Chuoi Pass.

Those coming from high-risk localities must also present a 'vaccine green pass' and test negative for the novel coronavirus within 72 hours before their arrival.

Lam Dong has documented over 500 local infections since the fourth outbreak hit the country on April 27.

The province has so far vaccinated over 80 percent of its adult population with at least one dose.

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