Le Van Tri, 28, was convicted of “spreading dangerous infectious diseases” in a one-day trial in the People’s Court in the southern province of Ca Mau, according to the state news agency Vietnam (VNA).
Vietnam has been one of the success stories of the global coronavirus, thanks to specific mass testing, aggressive contact tracking, strict border restrictions and strict quarantine. But new groups of infections since the end of April have soiled this record.
“Tung traveled back to Ca Mau from Ho Chi Minh City … and breached the 21-day quarantine regulations,” the news agency said.
“Tung infected eight people, one of whom died from the virus after a month of treatment,” he added.
Reuters did not immediately reach Ca Mau’s court for comment.
Ca Mau, Vietnam’s southernmost province, has reported only 191 cases and two deaths since the pandemic began, well below the nearly 260,000 cases and 10,685 deaths at the country’s coronavirus epicenter, Ho Chi Minh City. .
Vietnam is battling an aggravating outbreak of Covid-19 that has infected more than 536,000 people and killed 13,385, the vast majority in recent months.
The country has sentenced two more people to just 18 months and two years in prison suspended for the same charges.