Currently, the Covid-19 epidemic situation is continuing to develop complicatedly, especially more infections have been recorded in the community in Da Nang and Quang Ngai. Due to anxiety, 30 people, including patients and family members, escaped from Da Nang Hospital after the quarantine order.
Article table of contents
According to Article 1 of Decision No. 447/QĐ-TTg, the Prime Minister declares COVID-19 epidemic in Vietnam, specifically as follows:
1. Name of the epidemic: COVID-19 (novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease).
2. Occurrence time: January 23, 2020 (date of first confirmed case of Covid-19 infection).
3. Affected area: Nationwide.
4. Causes: severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
5. Specialty: Group A infectious disease, pandemic.
6. Transmission: human to human through respiratory infection.
7. Preventive measures: following the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases.
8. Health facilities that admit, isolate, monitor and treat infected people.
Thus, the 30 people mentioned above had the act of evading quarantine, which means not implementing epidemic prevention measures, specifically the Covid-19 epidemic that is happening globally today. This act will be subject to administrative sanctions, or if it constitutes a crime, it will be prosecuted for criminal liability, specifically as follows:
Firstly, administrative sanction
According to Point b Clause 2 Article 10 of Decree No. 176/2013/ND-CP of Vietnam’s Government, the following violation shall carry a fine of from VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000:
Refusing to or avoiding keeping sufferers of group A diseases, the subjects in quarantine that carry group A diseases or pathogens of group A diseases.
Secondly, criminal prosecution
In the worst case scenario, the act of evading quarantine causes the infection to spread to others, the violator may be prosecuted for criminal liability according to the provisions of Article 240 of the Criminal Code 2015 of Vietnam on the crime of Spreading dangerous infectious diseases in human. To be specific:
1. A person who commits any of the following acts that spread dangerous infectious diseases in human shall be liable to a fine of from VND 50,000,000 to VND 200,000,000 or face a penalty of 01 - 05 years' imprisonment:
…
c) Other acts that spread dangerous infections in human.
2. This offense committed in any of the following circumstances carries a penalty of 05 - 10 years' imprisonment:
a) The offense results in a declaration of an epidemic by the President of the People’s Committee of a province or the Minister of Health;
b) The offense results in the death of a person.
3. This offense committed in any of the following circumstances carries a penalty of 10 - 12 years' imprisonment:
a) The offense results in a declaration of an epidemic by the Prime Minister;
b) The offense results in the death of 02 or more people.
4. The offender might also be liable to a fine of from VND 20,000,000 to VND 100,000,000, prohibited from holding certain positions or doing certain works for 01 - 05 years.
Thus, it can be affirmed that Vietnamese law has a full range of sanctions from administrative to criminal to deal with individuals who evade medical quarantine. Fortunately for the girl who had just returned from Daegu and the other woman, they quickly accepted the quarantine, otherwise it would have caused unpredictable consequences not only in terms of health but also in terms of law.
Faced with the complicated developments of the epidemic, all people should follow the recommendations of the authorities and comply with the law to both protect their health and not violate the law.
Le Hai
