Some tourist sites and tourism events in Hanoi have enhanced measures to prevent Covid-19 after Vietnam reported 15 new coronavirus infection cases in the community in the past three days.

Many local tourists come to the Temple of Literature. Photo: Nhat Minh

The Management Board of the Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam (Temple of Literature – Imperial Academy) relics has required visitors to wear face masks and wash their hands with antiseptic solution.

“We have disinfected all areas of public gatherings such as worshiping places. If the pandemic situation worsens, we will enhance the sanitization work more frequently and apply measures similar to the ones implemented during the social distancing period some months ago,” Nguyen Van Tu, deputy director of the Management Board of the relic site told VnExpress.

Some tourist destinations in Hanoi such as Hoa Lo Prison have also taken anti-pandemic measures again as the number of visitors has increased over the past two months and many of them are not wearing face masks.

Even before the Vietnamese government ordered social distancing in April, authorities in Hanoi closed tourist attractions and religious sites across the city.

Border closure and stay-at-home orders have hit hard the city's tourism industry. The city welcomed an estimated 6.13 million visitors in the first seven months of this year, down 63.3% from a year earlier.

Due to the complicated progression of Covid-19 in Danang and Quang Ngai, the Vietnam Tourism Association announced on July 27 that it would delay the launch of the Vietnam International Tourism Fair – VITM Hanoi 2020, originally scheduled to take place on August 12-15 in Hanoi. 

This is the third time the association plans to postpone the launch of the international event, themed “Vietnam’s tourism industry towards future”. The association will notify the date of the fair inauguration depending on the situation of the pandemic and the government’s instruction.