Sawt Falasteen - Vietnam ends Covid quarantine for international travellers

The only virus requirement for visitors will be a negative Covid test, the country's ministry of health said in a statement.

The communist state's tourism sector was worth up to $32 billion a year before the pandemic, but it ground to a standstill during the pandemic as the government restricted travel.

Virus curbs have slowly been eased in recent months, with visitors trickling back in since November to play golf at resorts, under a bubble arrangement.

Vietnam also announced the resumption of 15 days' visa-free travel for citizens from 13 countries: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Britain, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Belarus.

The country, which has a population of 97 million, is still reporting nearly 200,000 new Covid cases a day as the Omicron variant sweeps through.

But the health ministry says the situation "remains under control" with hospitalisation and death rates staying low.

Officials attribute that to the high vaccination rate, with 98 percent of adults fully inoculated according to the health ministry.

The country is making efforts to roll out booster jabs to the population while preparing to vaccinate children and young teenagers.

Z.AlNajjar--SF-PST