The National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control has agreed to pause the reopening of the international tourism market at the current time due to the risk of the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) remaining high amid complicated developments relating to the pandemic globally.

The National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control has agreed
to pause the reopening of the international tourism market to avoid infection risk
(Illustrative image)  

An agreement on the move was reached during a meeting held on May 28 to discuss issues relating to immigration, the arrangement of quarantine activities for experts and high-tech workers entering the country, ways to bring home Vietnamese citizens from abroad, and ideas about restarting international tourism activities.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long, stated that the country had obtained a number achievements in terms of containing the epidemic, but the entry of experts and skilled labourers from epidemic-hit countries to the nation poses a high risk of infection.

Deputy Minister Long therefore emphasised the need to continue to strictly manage those arriving from abroad in line with regulations in an attempt to avoid the risk of infection spreading among the local community.

Sharing this point of view, representatives of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Public Security have also requested that drastic measures to strictly control and quarantine all people arriving from abroad be implemented.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Dac Phu, former head of the General Department of Preventive Medicine, also said that relevant ministries and localities must strictly follow regulations relating to epidemic prevention by quarantining all international crew members, experts, and overseas students who enter the country, in accordance to current regulations.

Members of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control also agreed not to reopen the international tourism market while taking measures to ensure the safety of both local residents and domestic travelers.

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Trinh Thi Thuy said that travel businesses and hotels have launched a range of attractive promotion schemes for domestic tourists, with some hotels operating at a full capacity in recent times, representing optimistic signals for the domestic tourism industry.