There are 48,000 contracted Vietnamese workers in South Korea and 230,000 in Taiwan, but it is not known how many are stranded in the two places after the expiry of their work visa due to the pandemic.

Tran Thi Van Ha, head of the Overseas Labor Management Agency at the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, said to help employers suffering from a lack of manpower due to the outbreak, the South Korean government is set to allow those who wish to stay back an additional five months’ stay.

She also said Taiwan would extend workers’ visas by three months.

Taiwan is the second largest overseas market for Vietnamese labor with more than 54,480 going in 2019. South Korea came in third with over 7,200 workers. Japan is the top destination that received more than 80,000 Vietnamese workers last year.

South Korea has reported over 10,800 Covid-19 cases and 255 deaths as of Wednesday morning, while Taiwan has had 438 infections and six deaths.