Vietnam Lifts Quarantine, Opens Borders to the World
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Vietnam has lifted all quarantine measures for international travelers and reopened its borders this week, becoming the latest destination to ease pandemic-related rules.
The country eliminated quarantine measures on Wednesday, a day after reopening its borders to foreign tourism, according to the Viet Nam Government Portal.
All travelers will be required to arrive with proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR or LAMP test taken within 72 hours of their departure or a negative rapid antigen test taken within 24 hours of their departure. Travelers must also make a health declaration before arriving, download a coronavirus-related app, monitor their own health for 10 days, and obtain insurance that covers at least $10,000 in expenses.
Children under 2 years old are exempt from pre-arrival testing requirements.
"In order to carry out the safe and effective opening of tourism, the [Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism] has issued guidance documents and asked localities to urgently prepare for the reopening of tourism, which focus on ensuring safety, implementing tourism stimulation programmes, developing products, improving service quality, upholding promotion activities, supplementing human resources and strengthening inspection and examination," the ministry wrote in a statement on Thursday.
While government officials previously indicated there would be a vaccine requirement to enter the country, neither the government's news site nor the tourism ministry have mentioned one.
Vietnam fully opened its borders to international tourism on Tuesday, three months earlier than the country initially planned. Travelers from the United States will still need to apply for a visa.
Vietnam is currently seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases and is reporting an average of about 254,000 new infections each day, according to Reuters. But the country has vaccinated more than 80% of its population, according to Johns Hopkins' Coronavirus Resource Center.
Still, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has placed Vietnam under its highest travel warning level, telling Americans to "avoid" going there due to "very high" levels of coronavirus transmission.
Vietnam is the latest country to welcome visitors following years of strict border restrictions. Last month, Australia began welcoming international tourists. And next month, South Korea plans to welcome visitors followed by New Zealand, which plans to reopen its borders to the world in May.
Alison Fox is a contributing writer for Travel + Leisure. When she's not in New York City, she likes to spend her time at the beach or exploring new destinations and hopes to visit every country in the world. Follow her adventures on Instagram.