Vietnam repatriates citizens from Wuhan

Vietnam on February 10 repatriated 30 of its citizens from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of new coronavirus (nCoV) outbreak in December 2019, on a charter flight conducted by national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines.

Flight bringing Vietnamese citizen arrives at Van Don airport on February 10. Photo: MOFA

The citizens, including students and tourists, landed at Van Don International Airport in the northern province of Quang Ninh at 5 a.m on Monday, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Authorities have conducted sanitization work and medical check for the returnees who are in good health condition, the ministry added.

All the passengers will be quarantined as required by the government in line with procedures on epidemic control.

The same airplane on February 9 carried 11 Chinese nationals back to Wuhan and medical equipment relief for Chinese people.

Vietnam began repatriating people from China’s epidemic-hit areas at Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc's request earlier this month. The citizens can return to the country via border gates and airports (except big international airports) across the country.

The returnees are quarantined for 14 days at military barracks.

The Ministry of National Defense has plans to accommodate dozens of thousands of Vietnamese people coming from epidemic-hit areas, providing them with military living standards, Lieutenant General Tran Don who is Deputy Minister of National Defense said at a government meeting on February 4.