Do not organize tours to areas at risk of coronavirus transmission

That is the recommendation of the General Department of Tourism (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) in Official Dispatch No. 76/TCDL-LH issued on the evening of January 23 to the Departments of Tourism, Departments of Culture, Sports and Tourism and tourism businesses nationwide to deploy measures to prevent the acute respiratory disease caused by the corona virus.

According to information from the Ministry of Health updating the situation of acute respiratory infections caused by the new strain of coronavirus (nCoV), as of January 23, 2020, China has recorded 541 cases of the disease, including 17 deaths and 15 infected medical staff. The cases were recorded in 13 provinces and cities including: Hubei, Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shandong, Jiangxi, Henan, Hunan, Sichuan and Yunnan. Some countries and territories have recorded cases of the disease such as: Thailand (04 cases), Japan (01), South Korea (01), Taiwan (01), the United States (01), Macao (01), Hong Kong (01). The World Health Organization (WHO) has assessed that acute respiratory infections caused by nCoV have the ability to be transmitted from person to person with limited ability.

Do not organize tours to areas at risk of coronavirus transmission.

Therefore, the Departments of Tourism, Departments of Culture - Sports and Tourism are required to update the directions of the Government, Ministry of Health, Provincial and City People's Committees to guide businesses in the area to strictly comply with the directions of competent authorities on disease prevention and control, minimize infection through tourism, and have timely solutions, appropriate to the specific developments of the situation according to the direction of the Ministry of Health.

For international travel businesses welcoming tourists to Vietnam: must strictly comply with regulations and recommendations of the Ministry of Health and competent authorities on ensuring disease prevention and control; promptly report and comply with the instructions of local authorities if tourists showing signs of illness and fever are detected, especially tourists coming from countries and territories with patients infected with nCoV virus; inform and guide staff and workers to take measures to prevent and control diseases, avoid infection if cases arise related to tourists.

For international travel businesses taking tourists abroad: Do not organize tours for tourists to areas with high risk of nCoV virus infection according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health; take measures to prevent nCoV virus epidemic for tourists when traveling abroad and at the same time provide full instructions and information to tourists so that they can proactively coordinate in disease prevention; remind tour guides to strengthen monitoring to ensure the health of tour guests, promptly inform local health agencies and Vietnamese diplomatic missions abroad when tourists have health problems, especially symptoms related to nCoV virus.

For accommodation establishments and tourism service businesses: Regularly update information from competent authorities on disease prevention and control instructions related to tourists; comply with regulations of local authorities and preventive health agencies and promptly have specific prevention, isolation and handling plans if there are cases of disease transmission through tourism or in the community, ensuring absolute safety and health of tourists and workers at service businesses.

The General Department of Tourism recommends that local tourism management agencies and tourism businesses nationwide regularly update the situation of nCoV virus infection on the website of the Department of Preventive Medicine: http://vncdc.gov.vn, and strictly comply with the instructions of the Government, the Ministry of Health, and local authorities on implementing activities to prevent nCoV virus infection in the tourism sector.