The Hanoi Department of Health has proposed putting any Korean or Vietnamese nationals who arrive from the epidemic areas in the Republic of Korea (RoK) in isolation for a 14-day period.

In the face of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic in the RoK, the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control convened an urgent meeting on February 23.

During the course of the meeting, Hoang Duc Hanh, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Health, emphasized the need to implement strict monitoring on arrivals into Vietnam and put people arriving from epidemic areas into quarantine.

The department noted that wards and communes must take steps to compile a list of people who have recently arrived from epidemic areas in order for them to undergo strict monitoring, whilst also urging people not to travel to epidemic areas.

According a report completed by district leaders, approximately 9,127 Korean nationals are temporarily staying in Nam Tu Liem district, largely in the wards of My Dinh 1 and Me Tri.

Recent days have seen the district become more active in supervising people from China and the RoK, with prevention activities to combat the epidemic receiving greater publicity, schools being disinfected, and body temperatures scanners being purchased as a means of serving students upon their return to school.

Indeed, Thanh Xuan district is home to roughly 1,600 Koreans and 160 Japanese people, with the locality deciding to establish three working groups aimed at supervising, classifying, and advising on regulations related to isolating cases in the area.

Currently, Bac Tu Liem district contains approximately 5,000 foreigners, including over 3,000 Koreans and 167 Japanese nationals.

The district has assigned relevant forces to provide citizens with further instructions, distribute leaflets in both Korean and Japanese language, whilst also working closely with the RoK Embassy as a means of ensuring management over people in the district.

Nguyen Khac Hien, Director of the Hanoi Department of Health, proposed isolating people who arrive from epidemic areas in countries that have faced complicated developments in COVID-19 cases, such as the RoK, Japan, and Singapore.