Special flights arranged by the government have brought home 626 Vietnamese stranded in Covid-19 hotspots the U.S. and Russia in the last two days.
A Vietnam Airlines flight from Washington D.C. landed at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on Friday morning with 346 people, mainly seniors, children and students whose visas had expired and having no accommodation due to school closures.
All underwent medical checks before boarding, wore face masks throughout the flight and submitted health declarations. They were quarantined on arrival and their samples have been sent for testing.
This was the fourth repatriation flight from the U.S. Earlier, around 1,000 Vietnamese nationals stuck in the U.S. were brought home.
The Vietnamese embassy in the U.S. said another 13,000 people are still waiting to be repatriated. There have been no plans announced for Vietnamese students affected by President Trump’s new visa rule.
Vietnam Airlines said it plans to operate three to five repatriation flights in July-August.
The U.S. is the world’s biggest Covid-19 hotspot, with over 3.2 million infections and 135,822 deaths.
On Thursday another Vietnam Airlines flight had brought 280 Vietnamese from Russia to Can Tho City in the Mekong Delta.
The passengers and crew have been quarantined in neighboring Bac Lieu Province.
The passengers traveled from Vladivostok, Ekaterinburg, Saint Petersburg, and other places to Moscow to board the flight.
Russia has the world’s fourth highest number of Covid-19 cases, over 707,000, and reported 10,843 deaths.
At a government meeting late last month Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc had instructed authorities to bring home around 14,000 Vietnamese citizens from other countries.
Since late March more than 11,000 people have been brought home from various parts of the world.
This article was originally published in Vnexpress