The St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Hanoi is left deserted amid the coronavirus pandemic,
April 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Trinh. 

Hanoi authorities and CNN have agreed to temporarily suspend tourism promotion ads on the American news channel until the Covid-19 crisis passes. 

Tran Duc Hai, Director of the municipal Department of Tourism, said Wednesday that the department had negotiated with CNN a temporary halt to all tourism promotions on the global news channel following an order by city Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung.

"Hanoi will only re-launch the tourism promotion after the World Health Organization (WHO) declares the end of the Covid-19 pandemic," he said.

Earlier, Chung had asked the department to work with CNN on suspending advertisements on the channel, saying he wanted to mobilize all resources towards fighting the pandemic.

Hanoi has recorded 129 Covid-19 cases and discharged 71 after treatment. Over 900 people are being quarantined at centralized facilities while 19,000 others are being monitored in the capital city.

Last year, Hanoi had signed a $4-million tourism promotion deal with CNN for the 2019-2024 period. In 2019, CNN aired 15 short films on city attractions across the Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, North America, and South Asia.

All popular tourist destinations in the country have been closed since mid-March and bars and most other entertainment facilities have been shut until April 15 on the Prime Minister’s orders, with the country having entered a 15-day nationwide social distancing campaign.

A man rides a bicycle on deserted Ly Thuong Kiet Street in Hanoi's
Hoan Kiem District, April 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Trinh. 

Both Hanoi and HCMC have proposed that the government extends the social distancing campaign, which will end Wednesday night, for two more weeks until April 30.

The number of visitors to the capital during the first quarter of this year was down 47 percent year-on-year to 3.85 million. Nearly 956,000 were foreigners, falling 44 percent, according to official data.

The country welcomed nearly 3.7 million international tourists in the first quarter of this year, down 18.1 percent year-on-year, as entry was restricted and tourism destinations closed in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Vietnam’s Covid-19 infection count is 267. Of these, 98 are active while the remaining 169 have been discharged from hospitals.

The Covid-19 pandemic has claimed over 126,000 lives in 210 countries and territories.