Vietnam quarantines ‘tens of thousands’ in camps – report

Vietnam has sent tens of thousands of people to quarantine camps as waves of overseas citizens return home to escape a coronavirus pandemic spreading in Europe and the US.

Vietnam’s Health Ministry has reported 148 infections, with no deaths. Its proven infection rate is lower than any regional nations except Myanmar and Laos, where testing has been very limited. By Thursday, those quarantined in military-run centers numbered 44,955, down about 15 percent from Monday’s figure, official data showed. Many among the first influx to return home early in March were discharged.

All passengers undergo quick screening, according to Reuters. It cited a medical official at Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport as saying that those with symptoms are taken to hospital, and the rest are sent to quarantine camps, “where they will share a room with 10 to 20 others on the same flight.”

The current phase of the battle against the virus is “decisive,” PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc has said, in an effort government statements describe as the “spring general offensive of 2020.”