With a large number of Vietnamese returning from South Korea in recent days, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has decided to divert the flights and reduce the load on airports in Da Nang and Can Tho cities.

The CAAV has said that starting Thursday, all flights from South Korea to the central city of Da Nang and the southern city of Can Tho will be diverted to the Phu Cat Airport in Binh Dinh Province in south central Vietnam.

It said all carriers must direct their passengers to abide by disease prevention measures and policies issued by Vietnamese authorities regarding the novel coronavirus outbreak. The Ministry of National Defense would arrange vehicles to take passengers to quarantine zones and cooperate with local authorities to receive, sort and quarantine people if necessary.

Starting March 1, Can Tho Airport had started receiving passenger flights from South Korea that were diverted from Saigon's Tan Son Nhat Airport to reduce the burden on the latter’s quarantine facilities.

As of Thursday, Can Tho had quarantined around 302 people, 15 of whom had exhibited symptoms like fever and coughing. They are being monitored closely.

Under Vietnam’s current regulations, everyone entering the country from mainland China, Italy, Iran and South Korea have to be quarantined for at least 14 days. The four countries are currently the worst-hit by the novel coronavirus outbreaks.

South Korea has reported over 5,700 infection cases, second only to mainland China, where the disease was first detected last December.

In Vietnam, all 16 persons confirmed with Covid-19 virus infection have been discharged from the hospital.

The virus has spread to 84 countries and territories, killing 3,285 people, mostly in mainland China, followed by Italy (107), Iran (92) and South Korea (35).