Man sentenced to 5 years in prison for spreading COVID in Vietnam

Man sentenced to 5 years in prison for spreading COVID in Vietnam
Man sentenced to 5 years in prison for spreading COVID in Vietnam
Avatar of Harry Johnson
Written by Harry Johnson

28-year-old Vietnamese man lands a 5-year prison term for travelling and spreading the COVID-19 virus.

  • Breaking COVID-19 restrictions leads to lengthy prison sentence.
  • Vietnamese man who infected 8 people with COVID-19 goes to prison.
  • Today, there are more than 13,000 deaths and 520,000 COVID-19 cases in Vietnam.

Le Van Tri, 28 was convicted of “spreading dangerous infectious diseases” and sentenced to to five years in prison for breaking severe coronavirus quarantine restrictions and spreading the infection to others.

A conviction and swift sentencing happened during a one-day trial at the People’s Court of the southern Vietnamese province of Ca Mau.

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“Tri traveled back to Ca Mau from Ho Chi Minh City … and breached the 21-day quarantine regulations,” the court transcript said.

“Tri infected eight people, one of whom died due to the virus after one month of treatment,” it added.

Two other people have been sentenced in Vietnam to 18-month and two-year suspended jail terms on the same charges.

Vietnam has been one of the world’s coronavirus success stories thanks to targeted mass testing, aggressive contact tracing, tight border restrictions, and strict quarantine. But new clusters of infections since late April have tarnished that record.

Ca Mau, Vietnam’s southernmost province, has reported only 191 cases and two deaths since the pandemic began, much lower than the nearly 260,000 cases and 10,685 deaths in the country’s coronavirus epicenter, Ho Chi Minh City.

Driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant, Vietnam’s fourth wave began on April 27. At the time, only 35 people had died of COVID-19, while the total number of infections stood just below 4,000. Today, there are more than 13,000 deaths, while case numbers top 520,000.

About 80 percent of deaths and half the infections have occurred in the country’s largest city Ho Chi Minh City.

Home to nine million people, Ho Chi Minh City has been under a total lockdown since August 23, with residents forbidden from leaving their homes even to shop for food.

With the restrictions set to last until September 15, newly elected Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has ordered mass testing for the city’s residents and deployed soldiers to enforce the stay at home orders and help with the delivery of food.

About the author

Avatar of Harry Johnson

Harry Johnson

Harry Johnson has been the assignment editor for eTurboNews for mroe than 20 years. He lives in Honolulu, Hawaii, and is originally from Europe. He enjoys writing and covering the news.

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