To: Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

In response to Official Dispatch No. 487/BVHTTDL-TCDL dated February 18, 2022 on seeking advisory opinions about the draft plan on resumption of tourism activities under new normal conditions, the Ministry of Health requests the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to consider amending certain provisions of the Draft Plan (attached to Official Dispatch No. 487/BVHTTDL-TCDL dated February 18, 2022) related to the prevention and control of COVID-19 pandemic as follows:

1. The resumption of tourism activities under new normal conditions should be based on the assessed level of the pandemic risk in each local government or area that is planned to provide services in relation to accommodation, sightseeing, entertainment, recreation, etc. for tourists, and the local government needs to have a backup plan that responds to possible COVID-19 pandemic scenarios during the process of re-welcoming tourists to ensure absolute safety for tourists and the community.

2. The Plan should stipulate and clarify the responsibilities of local governments, tourism service providers, accommodation service providers and especially individual tourists in supervising, managing and following the pandemic safety protocols, paying attention to the inspection and supervision of testing, health declaration, implementation of 5K rules (Mask - Disinfection - Distance - No gathering - Health declaration) by tourists in the first days of entry into Vietnam (3 days for those who have had full doses of vaccine and 7 days for those who have not been vaccinated or have not had enough doses of vaccine).

3. Eligibility criteria for tourists entering Vietnam regarding prevention and control of pandemic

3.1. Tourists aged 12 and older:

- Have received full dose(s) of COVID-19 vaccine and the last dose was given within at least 14 days and not more than 6 months by the time of entry (have a vaccination certification/vaccine passport approved by Vietnam or legalized/certified by a competent authority if such certificate has not been approved for direct use in Vietnam); or used to be infected with SARS-CoV-2 (with a certificate of positive test for SAR-COV-2 using RT-PCR method with individual sample or a certificate of recovery from COVID-19 or equivalent documents certifying that they have recovered from the disease, issued by a competent authority in the country/territory where they received the treatment issued not more than 6 months by the time of entry).

- High-risk people: people aged 65 years and older, pregnant women, people with underlying medical conditions (without requirement to be monitored or treated at health facilities), their travel shall be limited until new recommendation.  Strictly comply with requirement pertaining to full vaccination against COVID-19 before entering Vietnam.

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- Make health declaration prior to the entry and must use the health declaration application (PC-COVID) during their stay in Vietnam.. At the border checkpoint, if they have symptoms of COVID-19 (cough, fever, sore throat, runny nose, muscle pain, loss of or reduction in taste, etc.), they must immediately notify the health authority at the border checkpoint to take medical measures according to the law.

- Must strictly follow the 5K recommendation during the process of moving from the immigration checkpoint to the place of residence, restrain themselves from stopping, parking along the road or contacting with the community. In case special/emergency cases require stop and parking along the road, safety measures must be taken to prevent and control the COVID-19 pandemic.

- Within the first 24 hours (from the time of entry), the tourist stays at the accommodation (may not leave the place of residence), gets a test for SARS-CoV-2, if negative, self-monitors their health, if positive, isolation and medical treatment will be taken according to regulations.

- Tourists should not leave the place of accommodation within the first 72 hours from entry.

+ In case after 24 hours (from the time of entry) they need to leave the accommodation, they must obtain negative SAR-CoV-2 test (rapid antigen test or PCR) (before leaving the accommodation) on the daily basis until the end of 72 hours, and also strictly self-monitor their health until 10 days have elapsed and regularly implement the 5K rules.

+ In case the tourists do not leave the accommodation within 72 hours (from the time of entry): only test for SARS-CoV-2 two times (the first time on the first day of entry, the second time on the third day since entry), if the second test result is negative, the tourist can leave the accommodation after 72 hours from the time of entry, but they need to self-monitor their health until 10 days have elapsed and regularly implement the 5K rules.

3.2. Tourists aged under 12 (referred to as children):

- They are not required to have a certificate of vaccination (including children who have not been vaccinated or have not received enough doses of vaccine against COVID-19) before entering Vietnam to travel with parents and relatives (who have met the criteria in Section 3.1). Children who have been vaccinated or have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 should take pandemic safety protocols and test for SARS-CoV-2 (except for children under 2 years old) as similarly to the tourists aged 12 and older as guided in Section 3.1.

- Children who have not been vaccinated or vaccinated with insufficient doses of vaccine or have never been infected with SARS-CoV-2: must not leave the accommodation within the first 24 hours (from the time of entry); after 24 hours from the time of entry, if the children need to leave the accommodation, they must obtain negative SAR-CoV-2 test (rapid antigen test or PCR) (before leaving the accommodation) on the daily basis within 7 days, and also strictly self-monitor their health until 10 days have elapsed and regularly implement the 5K rules.

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Sincerely send these opinions to the Ministry to summarize and finalize the Draft Plan, seek consultation from the Government and the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control for decision.

Yours sincerely./.

PP. MINISTER
DEPUTY MINISTER




Nguyen Truong Son