People returning from HCMC and other southern localities to Thua Thien-Hue had to camp for hours at Covid-19 checkpoints in Phu Loc District before transferal to centralized quarantine. 

A medical checkpoint in Lang Co Town of Phu Loc District on Tuesday received multiple vehicles carrying passengers from Ho Chi Minh City and other southern regions seeking to return to Thua Thien-Hue amid the pandemic.

Passengers were all instructed to medically declare themselves at a nearby facility.

The facility for medical declarations serves as a temporary quarantine zone for those returning from HCMC. 

Vehicles entering Thua Thien-Hue without dropping passengers would be given a clearance paper by personnel at the checkpoint.

Several families had to camp on nearby sidewalks while waiting their turn to be transferred to quarantine camps.

Nguyen Thi Mui (L), 30, along with her husband and two children, traveled from HCMC to Hue by car. They reached the checkpoint at around 4:30 a.m. and had to wait for over six hours while camping under a tree.

Truong Thanh (L), 62, said he and his wife came to HCMC to work as scrap collectors. As the couple could not sustain themselves during the pandemic, they decided to rent a car and return to Hue on Monday.

A group of volunteers from Lang Co Town clean up trash at the checkpoint. All trash would be processed at a waste treatment facility in Loc Thuy Commune.

At another Covid-19 checkpoint near Hai Van Tunnel, many people returning from HCMC could also be seen waiting. Some even took naps.

Traffic police in Thua Thien-Hue lead the way across 150 kilometers over Hai Van Pass to Quang Tri's Hai Lang District so people travelling from HCMC could return to their hometowns in Quang Tri, Quang Binh, Ha Tinh, Nghe An and other localities.

A girl sleeps on the ground after a 1,000 kilometer trip with her parents from HCMC to Hue.

Thua Thien-Hue now has 16 active centralized quarantine camps managed by the military, which have received over 5,000 people from HCMC and other southern regions.

As more people leave HCMC and other southern regions, Thua Thien-Hue has had to devise centralized quarantine plans across its wards and communes.

The province has so far recorded 22 local Covid-19 cases in the fourth coronavirus wave that struck Vietnam in late April.