The suspension, requested by the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control and the municipal People's Committee, would last until June 4, according to a representative from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam.

The airport will still serve outbound flights.

Foreign arrivals to Vietnam have been limited since March last year due to Covid-19. Only Vietnamese citizens stranded overseas, foreign officials, diplomats, experts, investors and high-skilled workers are allowed in.

Passengers must undergo a 21-day mandatory quarantine period, either in centralized camps or other facilities like hotels.

HCMC has recorded 44 Covid-19 cases in the ongoing wave, including 36 cases associated a Christian mission cluster which emerged Wednesday after three of its members went to hospital with respiratory problems.

The city is dealing with at least two more clusters with unknown sources of transmission. It also recorded a suspected case Thursday evening, a 30-year-old woman in Tan Phu District who tested positive for the virus after visiting a hospital with respiratory conditions. Initial investigation found she is not linked to the religious mission.