Medical workers quarantined after contact with illegal entrants from Cambodia

This comes after two Vietnamese citizens, a mother and her child, illegally entered the nation from the neighbouring country by boat on April 20 before going to hospital for treatment, at which stage they purposely filled out a health declaration incorrectly. They then stayed at the hospital for six days before being detected by local authorities.

Nguyen Tan Binh, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, said during a virtual meeting on April 28 held to discuss COVID-19 prevention and control in the city that the risk of transmission occurring in border areas remains high. This is largely due to the huge number of people who travel back and forth, both legally and illegally.

He also stressed that hospitals in Cambodia are currently overloaded due to a rise in COVID-19 cases. Therefore, many Vietnamese citizens there are attempting to find ways to return to home, including individuals who have contracted COVID-19. This represents a new threat to localities in general and Ho Chi Minh City in particular.

The southern city’s Department of Health immediately directed hospitals to implement prevention measures and requested that local people wear face masks in public areas, as well as declaring information honesty when filling in their health form.