Dishonest medical declaration can result in jail time

House next to infected person but declared 2km away

In mid-February, the family of four of Mr. Nguyen Quoc Ng. (33 years old, Son Loi commune, Binh Xuyen, Vinh Phuc) returned to his wife's hometown in Nghi Xuan commune, Nghi Loc district to avoid the epidemic. At that time, the epidemic center of Son Loi was breaking out strongly, the whole commune was isolated, and the number of people entering and leaving was restricted to the maximum extent.

Upon receiving information that a family had come from an epidemic area, the authorities of Nghi Loc district as well as Nghi Xuan commune had to urgently spray disinfectant chemicals throughout the village and at the same time implement quarantine. During the 14-day quarantine period, the authorities provided necessities. But no one expected that this family would make a false health declaration.

The family was quarantined for 14 days in Nghi Xuan commune, Nghi Loc district. Photo: Tien Hung

“When we first met this family, they said they lived in Son Loi, their house was very far from the person infected with Covid-19, about 2 km. But after completing the 14-day quarantine, they admitted that the family opened a grocery store in Son Loi and right next to their house was a person who tested positive,” said a leader of Nghi Loc District Medical Center.

In recent times, it can be said that the entire political system has had to participate in the fight against the Covid-19 epidemic. That effort has brought many positive results. However, there are still many cases where, out of selfishness, people lied when declaring their health status because they did not want to be quarantined. Just because of a few individuals, the efforts of the whole country for nearly 2 months went down the drain in an instant.

Authorities sprayed disinfectant after a family of four from Son Loi returned to Nghe An to avoid the epidemic. Photo: Tien Hung

Among them, Nguyen Hong Nhung (26 years old, Hanoi) is a typical example. This "Patient No. 17" entered the country on March 2, did not declare her health status even though her health condition was not good at that time and went to England, France, and Italy, which are areas with Covid-19 patients. As a result, this young lady spread the disease to many people. After only a few days, thousands of people across the country had to be quarantined in many forms. And the epidemic is forecast to continue to worsen after this incident.

Doctor Nguyen Xuan Hong - Deputy Director of Nghe An Department of Health said that if Ms. Nhung had declared truthfully and accurately, she would have been quarantined by the authorities as soon as she got off the plane. The consequences would not have been as complicated as they are now.

Previously, a girl in Binh Duong who returned to Vietnam from the epicenter of Daegu city, South Korea, also lied about coming from Busan city. After successfully entering the country, she livestreamed to show off and explain how to make a false health declaration to avoid quarantine.

Discussing this issue, Mr. Luyen Van Trinh - Head of Medical Affairs Department (Nghe An Department of Health) said that in the coming time, it is necessary to strengthen control to detect early cases of false declaration. Although this work is predicted to be very difficult, it depends a lot on the awareness of each person.

“If a worker returns from abroad, in addition to the passport, he/she also has a work card, which clearly states where he/she works and whether he/she is from an epidemic area or not. As for those who return from conferences abroad, they have a conference card, which clearly states the location. We need to base on these records to control,” Mr. Trinh said, adding that, however, there are many cases that are very difficult to control, such as returning from traveling abroad. Especially in EU countries, where it is easy to travel between countries.

Tourists declare their health status upon entry at Nam Can border gate. Photo: Tien Hung

Currently, many methods to prevent health declaration fraud have been applied at border gates such as checking information declared on personal documents and residence cards. Quarantine officers also dig deeper into epidemiological history, coordinate with the police to investigate the travel process, verify information on health declarations through third parties...

Meanwhile, Mr. Vo Van Thang - Director of Nghi Loc District Medical Center said that we cannot rely on people's honesty. Because many people want to hide that they come from an epidemic area to avoid quarantine, as well as fear being discriminated against by people around them.

According to Mr. Thang, it is necessary to send working groups to each house where people are abroad to collect information and make a specific list. So that when these people return home, it will be easy to classify them for quarantine according to regulations. During the collection process, propaganda must be made so that people know that false declarations will be punished.

“We have to rely on legal regulations, because in reality there are clear laws. But the laws are not popular so people do not know,” Mr. Thang said.

According to regulations, false health declarations can be punished. Photo: Tien Hung

Accordingly, since the beginning of February 2020, the Prime Minister has signed Decision No. 173/QD-TTg on the announcement of the acute respiratory infection caused by the new strain of Corona virus, so all acts of evading disease prevention measures will be handled. On the other hand, the Ministry of Health has added acute respiratory infection caused by the new strain of Corona virus to the list of group A infectious diseases. These are particularly dangerous diseases, capable of spreading very quickly, spreading widely and with a high mortality rate or unknown causative agent.

Specifically, Article 10 of Decree 176/2013/ND-CP stipulates that anyone who refuses or evades the application of medical isolation decisions or forced medical isolation by competent State agencies for people with infectious diseases in group A will be fined from 5 to 10 million VND.

According to Article 8 of the 2007 Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases, the act of “Concealing, failing to declare or failing to promptly declare cases of infectious diseases as prescribed by law” is one of the prohibited acts. Therefore, all acts of evading disease prevention measures will be handled. Depending on the nature and severity of the act, violators may be subject to administrative or criminal sanctions.

According to Point a, Clause 2, Article 6, Decree 176/2013/ND-CP, "Concealing the status of a Group A infectious disease of oneself or another person with a Group A infectious disease" will be subject to a fine of 500,000 VND to 1 million VND.

Regarding criminal liability, according to Point c, Clause 1, Article 240 of the 2015 Penal Code, anyone who commits “Other acts that spread dangerous epidemics to people” shall be fined 50-200 million VND or imprisoned for 1-5 years. If the consequence is death, the penalty is 5-10 years in prison. If the consequence is death of 2 or more people, the penalty is 10-12 years in prison (Article 240 of the Penal Code). In addition, the offender may also be fined 20-100 million VND, banned from holding positions, practicing a profession or doing certain jobs for 1-5 years.