The city's Department of Tourism proposed using 1,618 rooms at 10 hotels to quarantine foreign experts and high-skilled workers upon entry into the city, with the visitors having to foot the bill.

Among the selection are famous five-star hotels Le Meridien Saigon, Sheraton and Norfolk, all in District 1.

Hotels used for isolation will not serve any other purposes. Security staff will further prevent unauthorized entry.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s southern metropolis, is seeking government approval to allow 437 foreign experts and high-skilled workers returning to the city to resume work. Earlier, 3,000 foreigners had been granted special entry for work purposes.

Vietnam closed its borders and suspended all international flights on March 25, and stopped issuing visas for foreign nationals since March 18.

A report from the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs showed over 93,000 foreign workers are licensed to operate in Vietnam but that nearly 22,000 have been unable to return to Vietnam since the end of March due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.

Vietnam has gone three months without community transmission caused by the novel coronavirus. The country of 96 million has reported only 381 infections, of these 28 are active cases, and not a single death.