Authorities in the north central province of Thanh Hoa received 104 specialists from CR Asia Thailand Company to work at Nghi Son Oil Refinery on Friday evening. Two of them are from South Africa, one from New Zealand and the remainder from Thailand.

After landing at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, they were transferred to the quarantine area at Anh Phat 3 Hotel in Nghi Son Economic Zone, 200 km south of the capital.

Based in Thanh Hoa’s Nghi Son Open Economic Zone, the refinery boasts a capacity of 200,000 barrels of crude oil a day in its first phase, equivalent to 10 million tonnes a year.

On Thursday, authorities in the northern province of Quang Ninh said it would cooperate with the South Korean Embassy in Vietnam to bring 400 South Koreans back to Vietnam to resume work.

The specialists, who hold main positions at South Korean enterprises operating in Vietnam, are expected to land at Van Don International Airport this month. 308 of them, engineers of Samsung Vietnam, landed on Friday afternoon.

They will be quarantined for 14 days at a five-star hotel in Ha Long, with all associated fees covered by the South Korean side.

Upon entering the country, all foreign experts are required to show an official certificate confirming they are free of the novel coronavirus, issued by competent authorities of the host countries and approved by the Vietnamese government.

Earlier, Vietnam agreed to let 700 engineers of Samsung Display skip mandatory centralized quarantine but ordered strict medical supervision for 14 days for the South Korean engineers who must also make medical declarations before entering the country.

Starting March 22, Vietnam suspended entry for all foreign nationals, including those of Vietnamese origin and family members with visa waivers.

Only Vietnamese nationals and foreigners carrying diplomatic and official passports such as business managers, experts and high-skilled workers are allowed to enter the country at this time, and all entrants will be quarantined for 14 days.

One of the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic is that 24,410 foreigners were not able to the country to work, according to data from the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs. These include 18,999 Chinese, 2,826 South Koreans, and 2,585 citizens from other countries and territories, including experts, skilled workers and managers.

A survey by the ministry last month found 34 cities and provinces want to bring back over 9,000 foreigners, mostly Chinese and South Koreans.

Vietnam’s infection tally rose to 268 Thursday morning, with 97 active cases and 171 discharged from hospital.

The global Covid-19 death toll has risen to 134,300 as the disease has spread to 210 countries and territories.