Coronavirus: Vietnam set to welcome back tourists; Australia to lift ban on cruise ships
- It remains unclear what kind of quarantine and testing rules Vietnam will impose on foreign visitors when it reopens after a two-year closure
- Elsewhere, Australia to lift entry ban for international cruise ships next month, while South Korea reports record 293 deaths as it fights Omicron
Vietnam is poised to welcome international travellers on Tuesday but a lack of clarity on the rules of a wider reopening while the coronavirus is still rampaging is causing confusion.
The tourism resumption was announced on February 17 with the government saying it would lift most curbs starting March 15 yet until now, the government has not issued specific guidelines.
It said a month ago that tourists must present proof of being vaccinated or having recovered from Covid-19 with a negative test result; and once landed in Vietnam, must undergo 24 hours of self-quarantine.
In November, the country started allowing international travellers on group tours and only to select destinations provided they were vaccinated or have recovered from the virus, and can show a negative test taken in the past 72 hours or less.
While the tourism ministry favoured a quarantine-free broad reopening, the health ministry on March 1 proposed ordering tourists to undergo a three-day self-isolation.