A new proposal says some foreigners entering Vietnam can be quarantined for

"an appropriate number of days" in lodgings like hotels.

The proposal would apply to officials with official or diplomatic passports,

international organizations, experts, managers, high-skilled workers, investors
and their family members. The proposal has not yet been extended for foreign
tourists at this moment.

"Right now, the demand of experts, businesses and investors to come to

Vietnam for surveillance purposes is high," Mai Tien Dung, Chairman of the
Government Office, said at a Thursday meeting regarding quarantine
extensions for foreigners and Vietnamese entering the country.

He noted that Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc's instruction calls for a step-
by-step reopening of international flight routes, ensuring that the process is
neither too lax nor too strict to hamper development opportunities.

Specifically, for about three days prior to getting on planes to fly to Vietnam,
passengers would need to test negative for the novel coronavirus at their
embarkation points.

After entering Vietnam, they would be quarantined in accommodations like

hotels and resorts for a period deemed appropriate. During this quarantine
period, they would be tested twice. If both test results are negative for the
novel coronavirus, they would be allowed to self-monitor themselves at home.
They would have to pay for the tests and quarantine fees.

People entering Vietnam after transiting through a third country would have
to be quarantined in centralized facilities for 14 days.

The Government Office is expected to submit the proposal to the Prime

Minister at a Friday meeting on Covid-19 prevention after consultations with
ministries, businesses and tourism associations.

Dung also noted that once international flight routes are reopened, the influx
of passengers entering Hanoi and HCMC would be high, so the two cities need
to increase the number of quarantine accommodations and make sure that
quarantine fees are transparent and made public. Accommodations will be
requested to offer discounts, provide good services and take effective
measures against the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Vietnam suspended international flights in late March.

After the country managed to bring the second outbreak of the pandemic
under control, the Transport Ministry earlier this month proposed reopening
flight routes to certain destinations in mainland China, Japan and South
Korea starting September 15, followed by Laos, Cambodia and Taiwan starting
September 22. The ministry estimates the number of arriving passengers to be
quarantined per week at about 5,000 in Hanoi and HCMC.

Vietnam had earlier this month lifted the requirement of 14-day quarantine at
centralized facilities for foreign experts, investors, managers, and diplomats
entering the country for less than 14 days, but required them to comply with
all Covid-19 prevention measures including wearing masks and refraining
from shaking hands.

The country has recorded 1,059 Covid-19 cases so far, 128 of which are active.
So far, 35 people have succumbed to the pandemic, many of them elderly
patients with underlying conditions like diabetes and/or kidney failure.

There has been no new local transmission case in Vietnam for a week now.