To: People’s Committees of provinces and central-affiliated cities

According to information from the communicable disease surveillance system, as of February 24, 2020, South Korea has recorded 833 infected cases and 7 deaths, making it the largest COVID-19 cluster outside China. Most cases are located in Daegu (457 cases) and North Gyeongsang (180 cases), where it is difficult to identify the carriers and handle the epidemic hotspots thoroughly. The South Korean government has raised the COVID-19 alert to the highest level and designated Daegu and North Gyeongsang as COVID-19 special care zones.

As the COVID-19 situation in South Korea is unpredictable and posing high risk of transmission into Vietnam, on February 24, 2020, the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control convened and agreed upon implementation of preventive measures for the infected zones in South Korea. To execute the conclusion of this meeting, the Ministry of Health hereby requests People’s Committees of provinces and central-affiliated cities to direct relevant units in their provinces and cities to perform the following tasks:

1. Make health declaration mandatory for all passengers traveling from or through South Korea; and detect persons showing any sign of fever, coughing and/or dyspnea and passengers traveling from or through Daegu and North Gyeongsang early on to promptly place them under medical quarantine.

2. All persons showing signs of fever, coughing and/or dyspnea at border checkpoints must be put under absolute quarantine in healthcare establishments and have their samples taken.

3. Passengers traveling from or through Daegu and North Gyeongsang must be quarantined at quarantine sites of each province or city for 14 days starting from the date of their entry into Vietnam. Other matters concerning centralized quarantine are provided for in the Decision No. 344/QD-BYT dated February 07, 2020 by Ministry of Health providing guidelines on medical quarantine at quarantine sites for COVID-19 prevention and control.

4. Check and inform local governments of passengers traveling from South Korea, especially those who travel from or through Daegu and North Gyeongsang to Vietnam from February 09, 2020, for timely medical quarantine and monitoring according to guidelines.

5. Persons returning from other parts of South Korea besides Daegu and North Gyeongsang are recommended to self-monitor and update on their health and to immediately visit healthcare establishments for quarantine and/or treatment if they show any sign of fever, coughing or dyspnea.

For your reference and compliance.

With sincere thanks./.

---------------

This document is handled by Vinas Doc. Document reference purposes only. Any comments, please send to email: [email protected]