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 agreedwith the Health Ministry’s proposal on suspending international flights to andfrom some African countries due to concerns over the Omicron variant.

TheMinistry of Health earlier asked the Government to halt flights to andfrom South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Lesotho, andMozambique, as well as halting the issuing of visas for passengers coming fromthese 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 onother flights.

Sofar, Vietnam’s border remains largely closed, aside from occasionalrepatriation flights bringing Vietnamese overseas home, and a tentative tourismreopening pilot programme ongoing in five select destinations, namely Da Nangcity, Quang Ninh, Quang Nam, Khanh Hoa, and Kien Giang provinces. All of theseflights required the agreement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministryof Health, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of National Defence, and Ministry ofPublic Security, according to the aviation authority.

Medicalquarantine along with travel history declaration will be tightened on approvedflights to prevent risks of Omicron spreading into the country.

Asof November 30, Vietnam has not recorded any COVID-19 cases of the Omicronvariant./.

VNA