The Government chief also asked several ministries and agencies monitor entrants with travel record to countries territories that have found cases of the Omicron Covid-19 variant in order to prevent spread of the variant to in Viet Nam.

The variant (B.1.1.529) was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) from South Africa on November 24, 2021, according to a post on WHO’s website.

This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning. Preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant, as compared to other VOCs. The number of cases of this variant appears to be increasing in almost all provinces in South Africa.

In response to the new variant, the Vietnamese Ministry of Health proposed that the Government should suspend flights to and from seven southern African countries (South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Lesotho, and Mozambique) and halt entry for those with travel record to these countries.

The variant Omicron has yet to be found in Viet Nam so far, the Health Ministry said.

As of November 29, Viet Nam recorded 1,224,110 COVID-19 infection cases, including 974,724 recoveries and 25,055 deaths./.