In Vietnam, a man was sentenced to five years in prison. The reason:after having broken the strict quarantine rules applied in the country during the pandemic, the latter would have contracted the disease in a large city before infecting eight people in his native village. One of these people is deceased.
A 28-year-old man from Ca Mau province, Vietnam, has just been sentenced to a fine equivalent to 780 euros and five years in prison for “spread of dangerous infectious diseases” , according to the Vietnamese press agency, relayed by ABC News. The Van Tri, his name, had traveled to Ho Chi Minh City in full confinement before returning to his home in Ca Mau in early July. Under current rules, the man should have quarantined himself for 21 days, which he did not. He then tested positive for Covid-19 on July 7, before infecting eight people, one of whom died on August 7, tracing operations revealed.
Remember that this is not a first in Vietnam. Recently, a 32-year-old man from Hai Duong in the north of the country was also sentenced to 18 months in prison in July for the same reason.
A few months ago, Vietnam was doing well in the face of the virus with an extremely low number of recorded cases (about 1500 cases recorded in 2020). These results were credited to robust public health measures (testing, quarantine, tracing of contact cases, strict border restrictions).
Unfortunately, the number of infected began to multiply from the end of May 2021, particularly in Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnam has since struggled to contain the outbreak, recording more than 12,000 new cases and more than 300 new deaths on Monday (September 6) alone. In total, more than 536,000 people have officially contracted the virus and 13,385 have succumbed to the disease, the vast majority in recent months.
While Vietnam was previously one of a small handful of countries pursuing a so-called zero covid strategy, the government recently abandoned that strategy and said it would try to "living with the virus".
The country, like many other low returned, struggled to get her first shots. While more than 20 million people have already received their first dose (99 million people in Vietnam), only 2.8% of the population is fully vaccinated to date. The campaign should nevertheless accelerate. The country will soon receive 20 million doses of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine, the government announced on Saturday.
