Vietnam flight attendant sentenced for breaking covid code
Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, Mar 30 (efe-epa).- A Vietnam court Tuesday gave a flight attendant a suspended jail term for two years after he violated Covid-19 quarantine rules and infecting three people.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security said in a statement that the court found Duong Tan Hau, 29, of “spreading dangerous infectious diseases” in a country that has registered 2,600 infections and 35 deaths since the pandemic began.
Hau, an employee of the state-run Vietnam Airlines, broke the mandatory 14-day quarantine last November after being part of the crew on a flight from Japan.
He contacted 46 people during that period. Three of them tested positive for the coronavirus after that.
The flight attendant had visited cafeterias, restaurants and attended his English classes when he was supposed to have isolated himself at his home.
He tested positive for the coronavirus on Nov. 28.
The court estimated that Hau’s violation cost the health authorities 4.48 billion dongs ($194,000) to test and quarantine more than 2,000 people.
It is the first criminal conviction in the country for breaking anti-covid rules.
Two more men from the southern Vinh Long province, who tested positive after entering the country from Cambodia illegally, are awaiting their trials.
Vietnam has been recognized as one of those countries that have most successfully managed the pandemic so far, with just 2,512 total infections, including 35 deaths.
The country with a population of 96 million has contained multiple outbreaks that have occurred over the last year thanks to measures such as the closure of borders to tourism and the effectiveness of its teams of trackers. EFE-EPA
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