The Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control has decided that health declaration shall be mandatory for all incoming travelers to Viet Nam from 6 am on March 7.

The meeting of the Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention
and Control on Friday morning. Photo: VGP

The decision was made at the Committee's meeting on Friday morning amid ongoing spikes of COVID-19 infections and fatalities across the world.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, who is head of the Committee, tasked competent agencies to simplify procedures for health declaration to make it convenient for incoming travelers.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Health reported that 1,908 people were tested negative for the COVID-19 in Viet Nam as of 7:30 pm on Thursday, up 78 cases from Wednesday.

The ministry also said 68 suspected cases are being quarantined to prevent spread of the virus to communities, down by 24 cases the previous day.

In addition, the nation is monitoring 14,241 people due to close links with suspected cases and or coming from COVID-19 affected areas, a decrease of 1,950 from a day earlier, according to the ministry.

Though no new infection has been reported since February 13, the Government of Viet Nam still considers the epidemic combat its top priority.

At a meeting Thursday, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc called for more drastic attitude towards prevention and control of the COVID-19 outbreak as it has spread to at least 86 countries and territories with more than 97,000 confirmed cases, including 3,358 fatalities./.