Formula One (F1) Hanoi Grand Prix will take place on April 3-5 as planned despite fears for the Covid-19 epidemic.

F1 Hanoi Grand Prix will take place in April as scheduled

The race would go ahead as scheduled and Hanoi’s authorities will conduct a number of measures to ensure that the race would be held safely and with good services, Deputy Director of the Hanoi’s Department of Tourism Tran Trung Hieu said at a meeting on February 18.

Le Ngoc Chi, CEO of Vietnam Grand Prix affirmed the same information with AFP.

“Although this is a sports event, it has a very huge impact on Vietnam and Hanoi’s tourism,” Trung said.

The affirmation was made in the face of mounting fears over the spread of the Covid-19 from China and the risk of transmission among the crowd.

The assertion came after the Chinese Grand Prix has been postponed due to the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

The Covid-19 outbreak has trashed Asia’s sporting calendar, forcing the postponement of top events including the Hong Kong Sevens rugby.

Vietnam reports 16 people infected with Covid-19, 14 of them have recovered and 13 have been discharged from hospital.

Sharing a long border and having close relations with China, Vietnam has taken tough measures to curb the spread of the outbreak. It has stopped licensing visas to Chinese visitors, banned all flights from and to China, and quarantined all people from and traveling across China.

F1 Hanoi Grand Prix is the first event of its kind to be held in Vietnam which is listed among few fast-growing countries in Asia.

Hosting Formula 1 race is expected to stimulate Vietnam’s tourism economy in a better way. Vietnam Grand Prix Corp chief executive Le Ngoc Chi says one of the goals of the race is to raise Vietnam’s profile.