The ministry also asked the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam to reduce the frequency of flights to Noi Bai International Airport as Hanoi imposes strict social distancing measures to curb the spread of the virus.

Last week, the aviation authority proposed freezing all regular flights between localities under social distancing orders, including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

However, the ministry said the Hanoi-HCMC route affects socio-economic development and should therefore be kept operational.

Currently, flights from some airports in southern localities where lockdown measures are imposed, including Can Tho, Phu Quoc, Rach Gia and Con Dao are not allowed to land at Noi Bai.

Very few flights have been operating between Hanoi and epicenter HCMC since the capital mandated 14-day centralized quarantine for arrivals from 19 southern localities.

Hanoi authorities have decided to extend its ongoing social distancing order until Aug. 22 as a response to several Covid-19 clusters being detected in the capital.

In the ongoing Covid-19 wave that hit Vietnam in late April, the country has recorded nearly 229,000 infections, including 131,879 in HCMC and 2,143 in Hanoi.