HANOI: All Vietnamese and foreign nationals are required to wear face masks in public places such as airports, bus stations, supermarkets, and public transport vehicles in Vietnam from Monday, daily newspaper Vietnam News has reported.



All passengers on domestic and international flights to and from Vietnam also have to wear face masks during their flights and their stay at airport terminals, according to the report.



To date, Vietnam has confirmed 57 cases of novel coronavirus infection, including 20 foreigners, with 102 suspected cases and nearly 30,000 under quarantine in the country, according to its Ministry of Health.



Vietnam has temporarily banned foreign nationals coming from or having visited or transited via Schengen countries or Britain within 14 days prior to their expected arrival from entering the country for tourism, relative visit, study or other personal purposes, and has suspended visa upon arrival for all foreign nationals, Vietnamese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said,, adding that both suspensions last for 30 days since mid-Sunday.



In another development, a fire in a shop in vietnam's northern Hung Yen province killed three people and injured another in a family on Monday.



The fire started on the first floor of the electrical and mechanical equipment shop and the blaze was extinguished more than an hour later, the news agency quoted local authorities as saying.



The owner and his wife, as well as their son, died in the fire, which seriously injured their grandson.



Vietnam reported 3,755 fires and explosions which claimed 112 human lives, injured 177 people, and left property losses of some 1,400 billion vietnamese dong (US$60.9mil) in 2019, according to the country's Fire Prevention and Fight Department. - Xinhua/Asian News Network

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