The Vietnamese Ministry of Transport has promulgated a pilot plan to resume interprovincial passenger road transport services from October 13 to 20, with some strict restrictions imposed on passengers and drivers.

During the pilot period, transport enterprises shall operate 5% - 30% of their capacity. Photo: THANH LAN

Passengers travelling from extremely high- risk, high-risk zones to equivalent or lower-risk ones must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with the final dose administered at least 14 days before departure, or have recovered from the disease within the last 6 months.

Besides, they have to test negative for COVID-19 via RT-PCR or rapid antigen testing techniques  taken up to 72 hours prior to departure .

As for passengers travelling from areas with a low risk or in the new normal to others with a higher risk, they must undergo RT-PCR or rapid antigen testing rapid antigen tests within 72 hours prior to departure.

If they display some suspicious symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat and shortness of breath, they must quickly inform the local medical forces for handling.

In detail, before boarding, all passengers must declare their health conditions, have their body temperature measured and use hand sanitizer.

In addition, they are required to wear face coverings, limit chatting with others, and the intake of foods when using the public transport services.

The above-mentioned requirements are also applied to drivers and driving assistants.

During the pilot period, drivers must operate their vehicles on the pre-determined route and only stop for rest, or pick up and drop off passengers at locations as listed and announced by the Directorate for Roads of Viet Nam.

All vehicles are also required to be disinfected before and after their journeys.

It is known that during the pilot period, transport enterprises shall operate 5% - 30% of the total number of trips in 7 days while their passenger coaches must have distanced seats, except for sleeper coaches.

Normal transport operations are allowed on travel from areas with a low risk or in the new normal to equivalent ones.

The Ministry also asked road passenger transport service providers to develop plans to resume transport services in a safe and effective manner and ensure strict compliance with coronavirus prevention rules among passengers and driving staff.

Reporting by THANH LAN – Transporting by ANH THU