Vietnamese Man Jailed for 5 Years for Spreading COVID-19

Vietnam jailed a man on Monday for five years for breaking strict Covid-19 quarantine rules and spreading the virus to others.

The state-run Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported that Le Van Tri, 28, was convicted of "spreading dangerous infectious diseases" at a one-day trial at the People's Court of the southern province of Ca Mau.

"Tung travelled back to Ca Mau from Ho Chi Minh City ... and breached the 21-day quarantine regulations," the news agency said. "Tung infected eight people, one of whom died due to the virus after one month of treatment."

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. Nevertheless, this milestone changed since late April, as new clusters of infections 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 epicentre, Ho Chi Minh City.

Meanwhile, the country is battling a worsening Covid-19 outbreak that has infected more than 536,000 people and killed 13,385, the vast majority in the past few months.

In the same vein, the country has sentenced two other people to 18-month and two-year suspended jail terms on the same charges.