A delegation of two doctors and two nurses of the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases headed to Equatorial Guinea to bring home 219 Vietnamese citizens, who are working for three Vietnamese companies in the host country. Among these citizens, 120 have tested positive for the coronavirus SARS-nCOV-2. The flight will be carried out by national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines on July 29 in accordance with the plan set up by the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc earlier requested that Vietnamese labourers in Equatorial Guinea be brought home immediately. Since the first days of the pandemic combat, the Government leader has ordered flights to repatriate overseas Vietnamese citizens. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
This is the honour, pride and responsibility of doctors and nurses of the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases. The citizens are planned to fly home on the flight No. VN5022 taking off at 4pm local time on July 28 at Equatorial Guinea’s Bata International Airport. The flight is expected to land at Noi Bai International Airport at 1:10pm on July 29.The citizens will be taken to quarantine upon arrival as per regulations. Vietnam Airlines will use an Airbus A350 aircraft to take the citizens back home. To receive the aircraft, the Bata International Airport must prepare a fire truck to ensure safety for landing and provide enough fuel for the big aircraft. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
Medical supplies are transported to the airport. Vietnam has been back on high alert for COVID-19 after the confirmation of “Patient 416,” - a 57-year-old man in Da Nang, ending the country’s 99-day streak of no local infection. Over the past time, Vietnam has imposed strict quarantine measures and carried out an aggressive and widespread testing programme during the pandemic combat. The case came at a time when Vietnam was about to resume international commercial flights and as domestic tourism is surging. Vietnam’s ban on international commercial flights is still in place, but foreign experts and skilled workers have been able to enter provided they undergo mandatory quarantine. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
At Bata Airport, the COVID-19 negative passengers will board the aircraft first, followed by their infected compatriots. Doctors and ground staff will monitor all boarding passengers. Four positive pressure chambers using plastic screens were set up on the aircraft to separate the infected passengers from others. The narrow space on the aircraft, lack of ventilation and high virus concentration make medical staff vulnerable to COVID-19 infection. After returning home, the infected ones will be treated at the Hanoi-based National Hospital for Tropical Diseases. This will be the highest number of COVID-19 patients the hospital has to treat at once. The repatriation flight can be considered unprecedented, as Vietnam has no direct flights to Equatorial Guinea, a nation with poor infrastructure and ongoing conflict. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
Preparations had been made many days earlier. Flight attendant Pham Xuan Truong said the crew to Equatorial Guinea volunteered to evacuate the stranded workers, some of them in critical condition, despite the high risk of infection. Doctor Than Manh Hung, head of the medical staff onboard, said no flight has ever transported such a large number of passengers infected with the novel coronavirus, and that he is prepared for the worst scenario. Such a high number of infected patients poses a challenge for the medical team. The rate of positive patients is very large, about 50 percent, while there are about five to seven in critical condition, Hung noted. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
Doctors head to the airport. Early in July, over 200 Vietnamese workers in Equatorial Guinea had sent a letter to Vietnamese representative agencies in Angola, asking for help. Many were confirmed to be carrying the virus. They were working at Sendje Hydropower Plant in Equatorial Guinea under labor contracts between Duglas Alliance Ltd of the UK and three Vietnamese companies. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc ordered relevant agencies to arrange a special flight to bring the Vietnamese workers home since many had been infected. The Ministry of Health dispatched two doctors and two nurses from Hanoi’s National Hospital for Tropical Diseases on board the aircraft alongside ventilators, protective clothing and specialized masks to support the infected Vietnamese. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
Buses are loaded with medical supplies to the airport. More than 16,000 Vietnamese have been brought home from 50 countries and territories on 60 flights since the country started repatriating citizens stranded abroad on April 10, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Strict security and safety measures were enforced during the flight to protect passengers’ health and prevent the spread of the disease. 50 more flights would bring another 13,000 people home by the end of next month. Vietnamese agencies and representative offices abroad and airlines will conduct more flights bringing Vietnamese citizens stranded by COVID-19 home, when required. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
The World Health Organization has hailed Vietnam for its quick response to the latest COVID-19 outbreak and bringing back its stranded citizens from abroad. Kidong Park, the WHO Representative in Vietnam, said: "We will not be surprised if Vietnam records more COVID-19 cases in the community in the upcoming time. "It shows that the disease surveillance system has been working effectively, allowing it to find cases quickly and in time. "We believe Vietnam will be able to quickly detect infection cases, track down suspected ones and locate the stricken areas to put down the outbreaks." WHO respects Vietnam’s decision to bring home hundreds more from stricken areas, including 219 from Equatorial Guinea, of whom more than half are infected, and 226 from Uzbekistan, of whom around 100 are infected. (Photo: VietnamPlus)
The citizens will be treated at the Hanoi-based National Hospital for Tropical Diseases. Following the repatriation flight, those in Uzbekistan are expected to be brought back early next month. Addressing a meeting of the Government’s permanent members in Hanoi on July 25, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc applauded the seriousness and efforts by all-level authorities, sectors, and localities in concurrently fighting against the pandemic and developing the economy. The PM reiterated the dual tasks of combating the pandemic and developing the economy, apart from taking appropriate measures to support foreign experts, investors, skilled workers, and diplomats to enter the country and assist overseas Vietnamese with disadvantages to return home. (Photo: VietnamPlus) VNA
