The government of Vietnam has stopped applying its unilateral visa exemption to Italian nationals from March 3 due to concern over the spread of Covid-19 which has claimed 52 lives and caused more than 2,000 infections in this European country.

Halting visa to visitors of epidemic-stricken areas is one of measures that Vietnam has applied to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

Earlier on February 29, the Southeast Asian country made the same move with South Korean citizens and quarantined all people coming from or traveling across South Korea within 14 days by the date of entry.

Italian government tightens meansures against Covid-19. Photo: Reuters

According to CNBC, Italy deals with its most major national public health disaster in modern times. The country has seen the worst outbreak of the Covid-19 outside Asia and the number of infections continues to rise.

The number of infected people in Italy was three on February 21 and has passed 2,000.

With a surge on the infected and death cases, the Italian government has taken a number of measures to stop the new coronavirus, including the lockdown of entire towns, restrictions of movement and closure of public places.

The Italian government under Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte sought to halt the spread by putting a dozen towns in the northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto in lockdown (and were made so-called “red zones” and quarantined) just over a week ago. The measures are due to be in place until at least March 8.

Many of the cases of the new coronavirus seen throughout Europe have also been traced to Italy with the worst affected regions being Lombardy and Veneto, whose capitals Milan and Venice are popular business and holiday destinations, respectively.

With free movement between the 27 countries of the EU (and the U.K. while it remains tied to EU rules during a post-Brexit transition period), Europe is closely watching how Italy, a country with a fragile coalition government and weak economy, deals with the escalating outbreak, according to CNBC.