Over 1,800 illegal entrants were detected in May, most of them from China and Cambodia, according to the Army Medical Department under the Ministry of National Defence.

According to the Head of the ministry's Army Medical Department, Nguyen Xuan Kien, border guards have deployed over 1,900 checkpoints along the border with over 12,800 staff.

He said nearly 500 staff have been assigned to patrol the sea areas along the southwestern regions. "In May alone, authorities conducted immigration procedures for around 152,000 people along the border."

Kien said that more than 580 houses have been erected to provide accommodation for border guards on duty along Cambodian and Laotian frontiers and 175 quarantine zones have been established for immigrants.

Vietnam hands over 13 illegal Chinese immigrants to the Chinese authorities. Photo: VNA

“Besides ensuring safety in the border areas, the Ministry of National Defence has also actively supported localities to deal with the pandemic. More than 1,000 soldiers have been dispatched to Bac Giang and Bac Ninh, two major coronavirus outbreaks in Vietnam, to support the Covid-19 fight,” Kien stressed.

He informed that the army has finished procedures to purchase five mobile laboratories for Covid-19 testing and prepared enough resources to keep up with the Covid-19 fight for up to a month.

As a coronavirus prevention measure, anyone wishing to enter Vietnam must undergo a mandatory 21-day quarantine period. Many have tried to circumvent the measures by entering illegally through less-traveled paths and other means.

In early May, the Ministry of Public Security has ordered a national crackdown on illegal immigration in Vietnam.

It is crucial to drastically prevent illegal immigration, as it constitutes an act of national sovereignty infringement, causing high risks of pandemic outbreaks and affecting the livelihoods of Vietnamese people, said the ministry.

As a result of the crackdown, 39 localities nationwide have reported 199 cases with 1,343 illegal Chinese immigrants, of them, the Ministry of Public Security has prosecuted 49 cases with 141 defendants.

Over a month after the outbreak of the fourth Covid-19 wave, Vietnam has recorded 4,596 cases in 36 cities and provinces. The northern province of Bac Giang is leading in the number of infections with 2,459, followed by its neighboring province of Bac Ninh with 891.