Hanoi (VNA) ꧙– Passengers boardingflights of Vietnamese airlines will have to wear face masks compulsorily whilethose of foreign carriers coming or leaving the country are also stronglyrecommended to do the same to avoid coronavirus infection, an official said onMarch 11.

At the meeting of the national steeringcommittee on COVID-19 prevent and control in Hanoi, participants agreed on theneed to seriously apply compulsory health declaration to all people, bothVietnamese and foreigners, entering the country. Those who lie in the declaration will bestrictly handled in accordance with laws. Deputy Minister of Transport Le Anh Tuan said toprevent the spread of the disease via aviation activities, from 6am of March13, passengers on the flights of the Vietnamese airlines must wear face masksthroughout their flights and within airports. To flights of foreign carriers coming ordeparting the country, the Vietnamese aviation sector strongly recommends theirpassengers and crew members wear face masks on flights. This is also compulsoryfor them if they are at airports. Before handling entry procedures, passengerswill be provided with free face masks and requested to comply with instructionsof the aviation sector, Tuan noted. He added that to curb the spread of the SARS-CoV-2,the sector will also work with relevant authorities to arrange specific areasfor transit passengers at international airports. The official also demanded drivers of publictransport vehicles like taxis, buses and trains wear face masks, take otherprevention measures, and ask their passengers to follow recommendations by theHealth Ministry. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, toboost the prevention and containment of COVID-19, the government has decided tosuspend the unilateral visa exemption for citizens of Denmark, Norway, Finland,Sweden, the UK, Germany, France and Spain, starting at 00:00am of March 12. Vietnam has notified those countries of thedecision and will keep working closely with other nations and internationalorganisations and partners to control the outbreak, the ministry said. At the meeting, the committee also toldministries, sectors and localities to follow the Health Ministry’s instructionson the reduction of density at concentrated quarantine centres. In particular, suspected cases who are atquarantine centres for three days and test negative could be self-quarantinedat home under local authorities’ monitoring. The Ministry of Health reported that fromJanuary 23 to March 5, Vietnam recorded 16 cases of COVID-19 infection, and allof them fully recovered. There were not any new cases from February 13 to March5.  From March 6 to the noon of March 11, 19 newcases were confirmed, including eight Vietnamese and 11 foreigners. Theyinclude 13 passengers on Flight VN0054 from London to Hanoi, which landed atNoi Bai International Airport at 4:30am of March 2. All crew members of thisflight have tested negative for the virus. There are 24,782 people having close contactwith confirmed cases or coming from epidemic-hit areas under monitoring atpresent, 2,525 of them quarantined at hospitals, 8,057 at other establishments,and 14,200 at home./.