As of 8pm on 19 March, seven international flights, with a total of 82 passengers onboard, had touched down at Da Nang International Airport. 62 of these passengers had come from ASEAN countries.

Arrivals from ASEAN countries going to quarantine sites in the city

After implementing entry procedures and making health declaration with local health officials at the city’s airport, the arrivals were taken to quarantine sites in the city.

International arrivals were sent to the Sam Grand Hotel located at 7 Pham Van Dong Street, and the Cong Doan Thanh Binh Hotel at 2 Ong Ich Khiem, for a 14-day quarantine.

Meanwhile, residents of Viet Nam and Vietnamese nationals migrating abroad went into quarantine at the Dong Nghe Training Centre in Hoa Vang District’s Hoa Khuong Commune, the Centre for Training National Defense and Security Knowledge, and the Battalion No 4 Base of the Military School of Military Region 5.

The municipal Centre for Disease Control (CDC) took the throat swabs and blood serum samples of these arrivals to test for coronavirus at its lab.

Dr Ton That Thanh, Director of the Da Nang CDC, announced on Thursday morning, the Da Nang CDC has taken throat swabs and blood serum samples of over 130 isolated people in the city, including 89 returnees from ASEAN countries who stayed in quarantine at the Centre for Training National Defense and Security Knowledge at 86 Nguyen Chanh in Lien Chieu District.

A 28-year-old male returnee from ASEAN countries said that he felt very secure after returning home in the face of new complicated developments of coronavirus abroad.

A Vietnamese student studying in Singapore, a resident of Ha Tinh Province, travelled on a flight MI632 to Da Nang on 18 March. Upon arrival, he was sent to the Centre for Training National Defense and Security Knowledge at 86 Nguyen Chanh for a two-week qurantine.

Tests on 41 foreigners who are quarantined at the Sam Grand Hotel have come back negative for new strain of the virus.

In an effort to give maximum support to foreign nationals during their 14-day quarantine period in the city, the municipal Department of Tourism has appealed for volunteer tour guides to act as interpreters for international arrivals.

Mr Huynh Duc Trung, the Head of Travel Management Office of the municipal Department of Tourism, remarked a total of 56 tour guides who can speak English, Japanese, Chinese, South Korean, Thai, French, Spanish and Russian languages are ready to join the fight against coronavirus.

Ms Lam Thi Hong Nga, a tour guide serving visitors from Russian-speaking countries, said she is always willing to work as an interpreter for international arrivals in isolation because she wanted to prove that the people of Da Nang, and Viet Nam as a whole, are always friendly and hospitable.

By PHAN CHUNG - Translated by MAI DUNG