Vietnam court convicted a flight attendant for breaking quarantine rules and causing thousands of people to isolate.
A 29-year-old Vietnam Airlines flight attendant was sentenced to two-year suspended jail term and became the first person in Vietnam to be tried for breaking COVID-19 rules.
In November 2020, he returned from Japan and ignored two-week mandatory quarantine by continuously visiting public places. Later in the month, he got diagnosed with COVID-19.
As a result, at least three people got infected, while over 2000 had to be put in isolation and tested.
According to Vietnamese media, over 4.48 billion dong (approximately $200,000) of damages were caused. On March 30, 2020, the man was convicted for “spreading infectious diseases” by the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City.
Due to strict quarantine rules and rigorous tracing programs, Vietnam managed to maintain some of the lowest COVID-19 infection rates in the world. By November 2020, when the story took place, the county virtually eradicated the virus within its borders, having no active cases