Day: December 4, 2021

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has proposed the suspension of flights, including repatriation flights, from 10 African countries to prevent the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 from entering Vietnam.

According to CAAV Director Dinh Viet Thang, along with banning flights from the 10 countries – Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Angola and Zambia to Vietnam, passengers who travelled through these countries within 30 days before entering Vietnam should be denied entry into Vietnam.

The agency recommended that the Ministry of Transport ask the Ministry of Health to issue specific guidance on quarantine control over passengers arriving from some countries where Omicron has been found such as the Republic of Korea and Japan.

The Transport Ministry should also ask the Ministry of Public Security to tighten checks at aviation border gates to detect passengers who have travelled through the countries hit by Omicron, the CAAV said.

According to the CAAV, many countries around the world have applied travel restrictions on people from African countries and/or those where Omicron has been discovered including Israel, EU countries, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Cambodia.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Department of External Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City in collaboration with the municipal Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and the Thai Consulate General in the city on December 4 organised a blood donation event on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the establishment of Thailand-Vietnam diplomatic relations (1976-2021). It was also an activity in tribute to the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulayadej.

Natthapol Na Songkhla, Thailand’s Acting Consul General in HCM City said the event will contribute to easing the blood shortage in the city, especially when the wave of COVID-19 outbreaks have resulted in a rising demand for blood from medical facilities.

The donation drive would help strengthen not only people-to-people relations but also the strategic partnership between Thailand and Vietnam, he said.

The event attracted the participation of 290 people and approximately 418 units of blood were collected.

On this occasion, the Thai Consulate-General donated 45 million VND (nearly 2,000 USD) to support the municipal HCM Communist Youth Union committee’s project in helping children orphaned by the pandemic.

Since May 2019, the Thai Consulate-General in HCM City and partners have organised four blood donation drives with 647 blood units to help Vietnamese patients

Source: Vietnam News Agency