Vietnam Central city of Da Nang has announced eight hotlines available in English, Japanese, Korean and Chinese to help foreigners manage Covid-19 restrictions.
The hotlines are operated by the municipal Department of Foreign Affairs with names, telephone numbers and emails foreigners could access should they face any difficulties in buying food and essential products, or seeking medical treatment, etc.
The city also updates Covid-19-related news on the Facebook page “Connecting Da Nang Worldwide” to help foreigners keep up with the situation in town.
Photo courtesy of Da Nang Department of Foreign Affairs
Da Nang has ordered all people to take shelter in place from Aug. 16. Last Wednesday, the city extended the order by another 10 days to Sept. 5 as the Covid-19 community outbreak remains complicated.
Before this order, Da Nang had already imposed Directive 16, the strictest social distancing rule that does not allow anyone to leave home except for buying food, medicine and working with approval.
Official data stated that by last year, more than 3,200 foreigners lived in Da Nang.
In the ongoing Covid-19 wave that broke out in Vietnam four months ago, Da Nang has recorded more than 4,100 community cases, local media reported.
The Vietnamese government cares about Vietnam’s expat community. It is accelerating COVID-19 vaccination, not only for citizens but also for foreigners living and working here, in an effort to achieve herd immunity as soon as possible.
HCM City’s District 7, which has the biggest community of expats, has already vaccinated 18,000 foreigners of 106 nationalities. That’s more than half of the foreigners living in the district. Volunteers working at the vaccination sites help foreigners fill out the necessary forms and accompany them as they get their blood pressure measured and are screened and vaccinated.
The Vietnamese government has extended vaccination coverage to more than 600 members of foreign diplomatic corps and UN agencies and their relatives. Reporters and press assistants of foreign press bureaus and foreign correspondents in Vietnam have also been vaccinated.
Deputy spokesperson for Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry Pham Thu Hang said, ‘The Vietnamese government pays attention to ensuring the safety and health care of foreigners living and working in Vietnam. During this pandemic outbreak, vaccinating foreigners is part of our effort to achieve herd immunity. The Prime Minister has asked the Ministry of Health to vaccinate foreigners in Vietnam regardless of their nationality and to give them the same priority as Vietnamese people. If they are not in a high priority region or category, they are encouraged to register for vaccination just as Vietnamese citizens do.’