HCMC tightens oversight of foreign arrivals after detecting Omicron

HCMC has announced new regulations for close monitoring of the isolation of foreign visitors after detecting five people with the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

Everyone landing at Tan Son Nhat Airport should install the PC-Covid application on their phone and create a personal QR code or access the city’s Covid-19 safety portal at https://antoan-covid.tphcm.gov.vn and register for the code.

Health authorities will work together with airlines to conduct rapid antigen tests for all passengers, and those testing negative can self-isolate while infected people will be quarantined at a public facility.

People who come to the airport to receive passengers should not travel in the same vehicle as them, and the latter must wear masks and keep their distance from others while going home or to hotels.

They must make a health declaration every day on the PC-Covid app. If they do not self-isolation at home, the place where they stay must create a QR code and make its own declaration.

During self-isolation – three days for those who are fully vaccinated or recovered from Covid and seven days for others — foreign arrivals will also comply with all the requirements the government announced last month.

They will have PCR tests on the third or seventh day depending on their immunity status, and, if they test negative, will be required to monitor their health for another 11 days. Though free to move around, they should avoid large gatherings and crowded places.

Those below 18 or above 65 years of age, pregnant women and those with underlying conditions can self-quarantine with caretakers who are fully vaccinated or have recovered from Covid.

Vietnam has found 20 people with Omicron so far, all arriving from abroad. No locally transmitted case has been detected.

Five entered the country through HCMC, a Turkish national and four Vietnamese, and tested positive between December 21 and 25.

By Huu Cong – VnExpress.net – January 1st, 2022