Vietnam yet to receive foreign tourists till year-end due to COVID-19, reaffirms Prime Minister

Explaining the government's decision not to welcome foreign visitors yet, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc tells National Assembly deputies that people's health is top priority. (Photo: VGP)

“Though we have a great desire for development, we (the government) have decided not to open the door for foreign tourists yet,” said PM Phuc, citing the resurgence of the virus in many countries worldwide and the possible return of the outbreak in the country as a major concern.

Giving evidence for the decision, the Government leader pointed out the great impact the tourism sector has suffered this year. Vietnam was expected to welcome 21 million foreign tourists and earn over US$60 billion from tourism services this year. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has made this number down to “almost zero”.

According the PM, despite being under pressure to reopen the borders, the government shows strong resolve for the sake of people’s health.

“We have to accept this to protect people’s health,” Phuc told National Assembly deputies. “We have to effectively control the disease by not bringing in foreign tourists between now and the end of the year.”

The PM affirmed Vietnam creates conditions for diplomats, managers, investors and highly skilled workers to come and work in a controlled manner.

Vietnam has brought the COVID-19 outbreak under control with no single community case detected over two months in a row. Several imported cases are quarantined as soon as they land in the country, thus posing no risk to the community.

Vietnam has so far recorded 1,192 coronavirus cases, with 1,065 recoveries and 35 deaths.

Human clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine begins in November Military Hospital 103 of the Vietnam Military Medical Academy will start the first human clinical trials of locally developed COVID-19 vaccine in November 2020.

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