Gov't sends emergency aid team to Vietnam for quarantined Koreans
Government officials walk to the departure gate at Incheon International Airport, Thursday, to head for Vietnam to provide support measures for Korean citizens who have been quarantined at public facilities there following the Vietnamese government's toughened entry restrictions for travelers from Korea due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Yonhap
About half of UN member countries restrict entry of travelers from Korea
By Jung Da-min
The government dispatched three “emergency response teams” to Vietnam, Thursday, to help Korean citizens quarantined by the Vietnamese government due to the COVID-19 epidemic.
The move comes in response to the Vietnamese government placing travelers from Korea under a 14-day quarantine at public healthcare centers and military facilities since late February.
The Vietnamese quarantine decision follows it complete entry ban for people having visited Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, the epicenters for the outbreak in Korea. A total of 276 Korean citizens are quarantined there, 142 in Hanoi, 112 in Ho Chi Minh City and 22 in Da Nang.
The teams to be sent to the three regions, consist of 12 officials from relevant government departments including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and the National Police Agency. They will talk with the Vietnamese authorities about lifting the quarantine, while also helping citizens who want to return home and those suffering from visa and other consular problems.
“The most important task is to help those who want to come back to Korea through negotiations with the Vietnamese authorities, with the cooperation of the Korean Embassy and Consulate General there,” Kyun Jong-ho, the chief of the teams, told reporters before departure at Incheon International Airport. “We will also be providing necessary items for those under quarantine at the facilities.”
As almost all direct flights from Korea to the three Vietnamese regions have been suspended due to the virus the teams had to travel via Bangkok.
The support operations in Vietnam will require the dispatched workers to stay there for about a week and may be extended if necessary.
Meanwhile, following the increasing number of confirmed COVID-19 cases here, 98 countries and territories, about half of the 193 U.N. member states, have put entry restrictions on travelers from Korea in place as of 3 p.m. Thursday.