Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said Wednesday that fighting the pandemic is the top central task of the whole Party, army and people as it directly affects lives and health of our people. 

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (middle) addresses a meeting to review 10-year
implementation of the Politburo's conclusion on national food security plan through 2020,
at the Government Headquarters on March 18, 2020. Photo: VGP

 The Government chief made the above statement at a meeting to review 10-year implementation of the Politburo’s conclusion on national food security plan through 2020.

Phuc reiterated that “we must be determined to contain the pandemic” while sustaining production and stability of other social domains.

Viet Nam has reported 68 coronavirus patients so far, of which 16 had been cleared of the virus and the rest have been confirmed since March 6.

Noticeably, 19 of the current patients are foreigners, including 13 British nationals and the other Vietnamese patients came from foreign countries or contracted the virus from those who come from foreign stricken areas.

As the pandemic has evolved swiftly and complicated, the Vietnamese Government has put in place a series of measures to staunch the spread of the virus to Viet Nam.

On Tuesday, the Government announced its decision to temporarily suspend visa issuance to foreigners for 30 days, applicable since March 18.

In addition to the current quarantine measures, the Government also decided that all incoming travelers from the US, Europe and ASEAN countries shall be subject to centralized quarantine./.

Earlier on March 14, the Government decided to temporarily suspend entry for tourists who come from the Schengen countries and/or the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or have visited or transited through these areas within 14 days preceding their expected entry into Viet Nam./.