Coronavirus: Vietnam ramps up border checks as imported cases rise; Malaysia tightens curbs in capital

Vietnam will intensify checks on arriving travellers as the government braces for a scenario where 30,000 people could be infected

Elsewhere, Seychelles is seeing a spike in cases even as it reports the world’s highest vaccination rate, while the Philippines has approved emergency use of Moderna’s shot

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Vietnam has among the lowest number of infections in Southeast Asia. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:25pm, 5 May 2021Updated: 10:01pm, 5 May 2021

Vietnam has ordered a strict border control after lengthening the quarantine period as it traces the recent flare-up in coronavirus cases to overseas travellers.

During a virus task force meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam ordered an intensified checks on arriving travellers, according to a post on a government website.

Authorities will also go “district by district, house by house” and visit companies hosting overseas workers to contain any spread.

The government is bracing for a scenario where 30,000 people could be infected, Dam said, adding that the number is meant for preparation and not a forecast.

The virus situation currently is very worrisome with multiple risk factors from people entering Vietnam legally, illegally and locals letting the guard down

Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam

There had been reports that many places were not strictly implementing quarantine rules, which fuelled the recent spike in cases, Dam said.

“The virus situation currently is very worrisome with multiple risk factors from people entering Vietnam legally, illegally and locals letting the guard down,” Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said in the post. Three patients in Vinh Phuc were found to be carrying a virus variant first detected in India, the health ministry had said.