The Ministry of Transport has said it is considering a proposal of the Kien Giang Provincial People’s Committee to temporarily suspend flights between the Mekong Delta province’s Phu Quoc island and Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s current largest COVID-19 hotspot.

Aiming at strengthening COVID-19 prevention and control, the proposal was submitted to the ministry on July 5, requesting the suspension to begin at 0:00 on July 6.

According to the People’s Committee, Kien Giang has yet to confirm any local COVID-19 infections. Meanwhile, Phu Quoc is an island city that is far from the maindland with restricted medical resources, particularly for COVID-19 testing and quarantine.

In the past week, more than 3,000 new cases of the novel coronavirus were added to the national count, with most of them detected in HCM City.

Earlier, a number of localities, including Ba Ria – Vung Tau, Thanh Hoa, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Gia Lai, Quang Binh, Nghe An, Quang Nam, and Thua Thien – Hue, have made similar proposals, which were approved./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency