Tourists to be evacuated from Da Nang due to Covid-19 outbreak

It needs at least four days to evacuate about 80,000 tourists from the central city of Da Nang after three city’s residents tested positive for Covid-19 over the past weekend.

July 27, 2020 | 16:04

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Passengers wait at the Da Nang airport to make check-in procedures to fly home, July 26, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Dac Thanh.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam said domestic airlines are operating 11 air routes from/to the Da Nang International Airport with approximately 100 flights daily.

Viet Nam had gone 99 days in a row without community transmission of Covid-19 by Friday before a 57-year old man in the city was confirmed having the virus on July 25 and two other cases reported on a subsequent day.

The evacuation is part of the ongoing efforts to contain the Covid-19 outbreak. Earlier on July 25, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc demanded drastic contact-tracing and large-scale testing in the city – one of the major tourist destinations in Viet Nam.

He also ordered prompt investigation and strict punishment of illegal entrants into the country, especially in Da Nang City and Quang Nam Province.

80,000 people stuck in Danang

Vnexpress reported that an increased number of flights are expected to ferry home 80,000 people, mostly local tourists, stranded in Da Nang following the fresh Covid-19 outbreak there.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has ordered airlines to maximize the number of flights from Da Nang as "80,000 people are stuck in the city", where three people have been diagnosed with the disease in the past few days, the country's first cases after 99 days without community transmission.

On Sunday it granted permission to Vietjet Air, Pacific Airlines and Bamboo Airways to operate more flights.

It is awaiting approval from the Transport Ministry to allow flights to the city for at least the next four days.

Dinh Viet Thang, head of the CAAV, said passengers stuck in Da Nang could run out of money, lack accommodation and face other difficulties since authorities have imposed social distancing measures.

On Sunday more than 40 check-in counters at Da Nang International Airport were chock-full of passengers, all wearing face masks.

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