A man faces 5-year jail for spreading COVID-19

Authorities in Vietnam sentenced a man to five years in jail for spreading the contagious COVID-19 virus and breaking the health protocols. A court has found Le Van Tri guilty of communicating "dangerous infectious diseases" to eight people, one of whom eventually died.

In early July, Tri, 28, was reported riding a motorcycle from Ho Chi Minh City and his home province of Ca Mau in the south of the country. In Ca Mau, it was found that he was lying on a health declaration form that asked about his recent travel history and also did not respect the isolation rules.

Local officials at the time had made it mandatory that anyone travelling from other provinces to Ca Mau must immediately isolate themselves for 21 days; however, Tri did not even follow the health protocols.

Tri later tested positive for Covid, and it was found that the virus was transmitted to members of his family as well as to staff at a social centre he visited. After only one day of trial, Tri was fined $880 and jailed for five years.

Until recently, Vietnam was largely successful in keeping Covid with strict restrictions. But infections have risen since June, with an outbreak driven by the more contagious Delta variant.

The country has seen more than 530,000 cases with more than 13,300 deaths, many of which have occurred in recent months. Many of these cases were found in Ho Chi Minh City.