Nearly 300 Vietnamese citizens left stranded in the US and Japan due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic safely returned to Vietnam on July 30 from a special flight conducted by national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines.

Passengers on board the flight include minors under 18, students who had completed the academic year without accommodation, workers with expired contracts, and others in specially difficult circumstances.

The Consulate General of Vietnam in San Francisco, the US, and the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan dispatched staff to San Francisco and Narita airports to assist the citizens with necessary procedures before they boarded the plane.

Vietnam Airlines strictly implemented medical measures to prevent the possible spread of the novel coronavirus throughout the journey.

As soon as the aircraft landed at Cam Ranh International Airport in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa, a crew members and passengers underwent medical check-ups and were transferred to quarantine facilities in line with regulations on COVID-19 prevention and control.

Under Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s instructions, domestic authorities and Vietnamese representative offices abroad are devising plans to bring home more Vietnamese nationals based on their needs and the nation’s current quarantine capacity.