CAAV agrees to halt flights from African countries over Omicron concerns

Aircraft of Vietnamese airlines (Photo: baochinhphu.vn)

Hanoi (VNA) - The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has agreed with the Health Ministry’s proposal on suspending international flights to and from some African countries due to concerns over the Omicron variant.

The Ministry of Health earlier asked the Government to halt flights to and from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Lesotho, and Mozambique, as well as halting the issuing of visas for passengers coming from these countries.

However, many other countries have also seen cases of the new highly concerning variant, so there is still a big chance of the variant making its way into Vietnam on other flights.

So far, Vietnam’s border remains largely closed, aside from occasional repatriation flights bringing Vietnamese overseas home, and a tentative tourism reopening pilot programme ongoing in five select destinations, namely Da Nang city, Quang Ninh, Quang Nam, Khanh Hoa, and Kien Giang provinces. All of these flights required the agreement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of National Defence, and Ministry of Public Security, according to the aviation authority.

Medical quarantine along with travel history declaration will be tightened on approved flights to prevent risks of Omicron spreading into the country.

As of November 30, Vietnam has not recorded any COVID-19 cases of the Omicron variant./.

VNA