Vietnam brings home more than 270 Vietnamese citizens from Malaysia

The Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia worked with local authorities to bring home more than 270 Vietnamese citizens stranded by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The flight VN674 which was operated by Vietnam Airlines from Kuala Lumpur landed at the Danang International Airport at 8pm on May 10.

Related: Vietnam begins day 25 without community transmission of Covid-19, more repatriation flights to bring back citizens

All passengers and the plane crew underwent health checks before being transferred to quarantine facilities on the same day, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said.

According to the ministry, the passengers were people in difficult circumstances like children under 18, senior citizens, and students without a residence visa due after dormitories were shutdown in Malaysia, as well as tourists and those whose visas had expired but could not leave the country due to the pandemic.

This flight earlier transported medical equipment as gifts from the Vietnamese Government and people to their Malaysian counterparts.

Since mid-April, Vietnam has worked with many countries like the UK., Italy, Germany, Japan, Thailand, the UAE, and the US to organise flights to bring Vietnamese home after countries suspended commercial routes as a safety and containment measure. There will be 13 such flights.

Since March 22, Vietnam has suspended entry for all foreign nationals, including those of Vietnamese origin and family members with visa waivers. Only Vietnamese nationals and foreigners having diplomatic and official passports such as business managers, experts and high-skilled workers will be allowed to enter the country at this time, and all entrants will be quarantined for 14 days.

Vietnam recorded no new Covid-19 infection cases for 24 consecutive days as of 6am on May 11, and the patient tally remains at 288, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

So far, 241 patients have been discharged from hospitals.