A Vietnamese court has sentenced a man to five years in jail after he was found guilty of “transmitting dangerous infectious diseases” to eight people. One of the affected persons eventually died of the infection, BBC reported. The court also fined 28-year-old Le Van Tri the equivalent of $880. In early July, Tri reportedly travelled by motorcycle from Ho Chi Minh City to his home province Ca Mau in the south of the country, where he allegedly hid his recent travel history while filling up a health declaration form. Ca Mau has reported only 191 COVID-19 cases and two deaths compared to the nearly 260,000 cases and 10,685 deaths in the coronavirus hotspot, Ho Chi Minh, according to news agency Reuters.

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To curb the spread of COVID-19, local authorities at the time had made a 21-day long isolation mandatory for anyone arriving in Ca Mau from other provinces.

Tri, who later tested positive for coronavirus, had transmitted the virus to family members and staff at a welfare centre which he visited.

Since June, Vietnam has witnessed a surge in COVID-19 cases due to an outbreak caused by the faster-spreading Delta variant.

The country’s overall COVID-19 tally stands at 530,000 cases and more than 13,300 deaths.

In July, a court in northern province of Hai Duonga convicted a 30-year-old man of “spreading dangerous infectious diseases” at a one-day trial

Dao Duy Tung was found guilty of illegally entering Vietnam from Laos on April 22 and breaching the 14-day quarantine regulations, according to the state-run Vietnam News Agency.

Tung refused to get tested even after having been notified that his contacts in Laos had tested positive for the virus.

He visited several places and came into contact with several people after travelling to other cities.

Authorities said Tung’s violations had caused financial damage of more than 3 billion dong ($130,372.43).