Aircraft of Vietnamese airlines (Photo: baochinhphu.vn)

The Ministry of Health earlier asked the Government to halt flights to and from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Lesotho, and Mozambique, as well as halting the issuing of visas for passengers coming from these 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 on other flights.

So far, Vietnam’s border remains largely closed, aside from occasional repatriation flights bringing Vietnamese overseas home, and a tentative tourism reopening pilot program ongoing in five select destinations, namely Da Nang city, Quang Ninh, Quang Nam, Khanh Hoa, and Kien Giang provinces. All of these flights required the agreement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of National Defence, and Ministry of Public Security, according to the aviation authority.

Medical quarantine along with travel history declaration will be tightened on approved flights to prevent risks of Omicron spreading into the country.

As of Wednesday, Vietnam has not recorded any cases of the Omicron variant.