Authorities in Hanoi are complaining about some South Korean people refusing to co-operate in Covid-19 prevention efforts.
Health officers in Thanh Xuan District check an apartment building in the area
Since the virus outbreak occurred in some localities in the East Asian country, authorities in Hanoi have started to keep a close eye on their community.
Health officers in Khuong Dinh Ward in Thanh Xuan District said that they are working harder recently as there are over 1,000 South Korean people living in an apartment building in the area.
"We have to monitor the health situation of anyone among them when they travel to their country and back," a health officer said. "We'll help provide urgent treatment and quarantine if they show symptoms including fever, coughs, and breathing difficulties."
An official in Thuong Dinh Ward, Nguyen Trong Phan, said that there are many foreign people living in his area so they had tightened monitoring as well as sterilisation activities since Tet Holiday when the virus outbreak started China.
“We're facing with some difficulties in monitoring foreign people here," Phan said. "Some people are going to their countries and returning here but staying in hotels, not at their registered homes."
The health departments in Cau Giay, Nam Tu Liem, and Thanh Xuan districts are also complaining about some South Korean people who refused to work with local health officers on virus prevention.
"Some people didn't open their doors to us when we come to work with them about the virus prevention," an official said. "We had to ask for help from the management boards at their apartment buildings to be able to meet these South Korean people."
Speaking at a meeting with Hanoi Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung on February 27, director of the city's Department of Health, Nguyen Khac Hien, said that although no Covid-19 infection cases had been reported in the area, the city is facing big threat of a virus outbreak if drastic preventative measures are not implemented.
Nguyen Nhat Cam, Director of the Hanoi Centre for Disease Control and Preventiont told the meeting that around 1,500 South Korean people landed at the Noi Bai Airport every day.
"This posed a big threat to Hanoi as the virus outbreak is still spreading in South Korea," Cam said.
Addressing a conference held on February 25 on Covid-19 fighting and prevention, deputy PM Vu Duc Dam stressed that he totally agreed with the strict quarantine policies of Danang City with people from virus areas in South Korea.
"We understand that no visitors to Vietnam want to be quarantined, but we need your co-operation as a responsible citizen," the official said.
