The Ministry of Health (MoH) on August 4 sent an official dispatch to relevant agencies on the reduction of concentrated quarantine time for people who enter Vietnam and have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

A medic injects a COVID-19 vaccine shot to a citizen (Photo: VNA)

The decision is made based on data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Vietnam, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

The concentrated quarantine period will be cut down to seven days and the quarantined people will have to monitor their health conditions for another seven days, except for those who work less than 14 days in the country and other cases subject to different regulations of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control and the MoH.

Specifically, the reduced quarantine period – compared to previous 14 days of centralised quarantine and seven days of follow-up medical observation – is applicable to those having certified (by relevant authorities of the home country) proof of negative RT-PCR tests for SARS-CoV-2 72 hours prior to departure, having been fully vaccinated with the last dose at least 14 days but no more than 12 months before the entry time (with vaccination certificates); or in place of vaccination records, those having been infected with coronavirus (with documents proving the positive status using RT-PCR method no more than six months prior to the entry date), or proof showing they have recovered from the disease or hospital discharge or equivalent documents issued by competent authorities in the country where they have been treated.

All entries will have to be tested for COVID-19 on the first and the seventh day of the quarantine period (counting from the entry date). The first test could use either rapid antigen tests or RT-PCR tests, but the second test would have to be single-sample RT-PCR tests.

Relevant authorities will handle cases with positive tests in line with existing instructions and guidelines.

Those completing centralised quarantine and travelling to their residences/hotels/accommodation for further observation must wear masks, keep a distance, and use the contact tracing app Bluezone, according to the health ministry’s document.

The Bluezone app is required to be active during the seven days of follow-up observation.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is asked to provide guidelines on verifying and approving COVID-19 vaccination certificates or COVID-19 recovery proof or the equivalent documents by foreign authorities.

The local authorities must strictly abide by the instructions from the health ministry in the management of quarantined persons and handover and reception of those completing centralised quarantine period to ensure no cross infections and spread of the virus to the community.

Those eligible for reduced quarantine could be arranged to pay for quarantine at hotels depending on their requests.

Previously, the northern province of Quang Ninh has been selected by the health ministry to carry out pilot implementation of the seven-day quarantine in July.

Source: VNA