Vietnam to repatriate citizens from US Thursday

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Vietnamese citizens are set to be repatriated Thursday from the U.S., the world’s Covid-19 epicenter, after a brief delay.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Vietnamese Embassy in the U.S. have been working with related agencies to assist Vietnam Airlines in bringing Vietnamese citizens home as soon as possible, the ministry said in a statement Tuesday.

Vietnam Airlines, which has completed all required procedures by the U.S., has scheduled the flight to depart Thursday from San Francisco.

The flight was originally set to take off on May 2, but was postponed because the airline had not fulfilled all licensing procedures under local laws, the embassy said.

The ministry advised Vietnamese citizens to adhere to Covid-19 prevention measures in the U.S. and take guidance from the Vietnamese government’s representatives in the country.

The U.S. is currently worst hit by the Covid-19 pandemic with more than 1.2 million cases and nearly 71,000 deaths.

Vietnam has recently coordinated with a number of countries such as the U.K., Italy, Japan, Singapore and Canada to repatriate its citizens after commercial flights were suspended to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.