Failure to declare or false medical declaration about Covid-19 epidemic can be subject to criminal prosecution

Many cases of dishonest medical declarations were discovered.

To ensure safety in preventing and fighting the Covid-19 epidemic in the province, on the afternoon of May 15, 2021, Nghe An Department of Health requested the Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control of districts, cities, towns and related units to urgently review and make a list of people who have come to/returned from localities recording Covid-19 infections in the community nationwide since May 1; organize epidemiological investigations, classify subjects, organize isolation measures, and take samples for testing according to current regulations.

Most people comply well, but there are also cases of being punished for making false declarations and being dishonest to avoid quarantine. In some cases, people have been home for nearly a week and have traveled to many places before agreeing to return.health declaration.

Decision to punish Mr. Truong Van D. by the People's Committee of Quy Hop district.

Typically, on May 19, 2021, the People's Committee of Quy Hop district signed Decision No. 749/QD-UBND to fine Mr. Truong Van D. (born in 2001), residing in Mon hamlet, Ha Son commune, Quy Hop district, VND 10 million for administrative violations of "Intentionally declaring and providing false information about infectious diseases in group A".

Previously, on May 6, 2021, Mr. D. traveled from Lam Trai, Van Duong Ward, Bac Ninh City (Bac Ninh Province) to Ha Son Commune, but declared to Ha Son Health Station that he had returned from Que Vo Industrial Park, Bac Ninh Province to avoid being subject to medical isolation measures to prevent the epidemic according to regulations of the Ministry of Health.

After verifying and determining that Mr. Truong Van D. had made a false medical declaration, the People's Committee of Quy Hop district signed a decision to fine Mr. D. It is known that this is the third case in Quy Hop district to be administratively fined in the health sector due to dishonest medical declaration.

Similarly, on the morning of May 20, 2021, the leader of Bao Thang commune (Ky Son district) said that the Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control of this commune had just issued a decision to fine Cut Van M. (18 years old, residing in Cha Ca 2 village) 2 million VND for the act of "not properly implementing disease prevention and control measures" as prescribed in Point a, Clause 1, Article 12, Decree 117 of the Government on handling administrative violations in the health sector.

Working with local authorities, M. was still not honest. Photo: PT

Accordingly, M. works at a company in Hanoi. On May 18, M. took a bus many times to return to his hometown without making a medical declaration. After being discovered, the Covid-19 Prevention Steering Committee of Bao Thang commune asked this young man to come forward to declare and implement quarantine measures to prevent and control the epidemic. However, during the process of working, M. did not declare honestly, beat around the bush, and denied. Initially, M. insisted that he had just returned from Thanh Hoa. After being informed and explained, M. admitted that he had returned from Hanoi but could not remember the specific address.

These deceitful and dishonest behaviors pose a risk of spreading disease in the community.

May be subject to criminal prosecution

According to Lawyer Nguyen Trong Hai - Head of Trong Hai and Associates Law Office: Currently, the Covid-19 epidemic has been listed in the list of group A infectious diseases. With the increasingly complicated situation, not declaring health or making false health declarations will cause difficulties in disease control and prevention. Therefore, the law also has certain penalties for not declaring or making false health declarations. These acts can be administratively fined up to 20 million VND, or even criminally prosecuted, specifically:

- Regarding administrative sanctions:The fine for acts of not declaring health status or making false health status declarations is stipulated in Clause 3, Article 7 of Decree 117/2020/ND-CP as follows:

“3. A fine of from VND 10,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the following acts:

a) Concealing, failing to declare or failing to promptly declare the current status of a group A infectious disease of oneself or another person suffering from a group A infectious disease;

b) Intentionally declaring or providing false information about group A infectious diseases;

c) Intentionally spreading infectious agents of group A”.

According to the above regulations, if you discover that you or someone else has symptoms of Covid-19 but do not promptly declare your health status or make a false health declaration, you may be subject to an administrative fine of up to 20 million VND.

Lawyer Nguyen Trong Hai - Head of Trong Hai and Associates Law Office. Photo: Contributor

- About criminal proceedings

According to Article 1 of Official Dispatch 45/TANDTC-PC dated March 30, 2020 of the Supreme People's Court:

“A person who has been notified of having the disease; a person suspected of having the disease or returning from an area with a Covid-19 epidemic and has been notified of quarantine, who commits one of the following acts causing the transmission of Covid-19 to others, shall be considered a case of committing "another act causing the spread of a dangerous epidemic to people" as prescribed in Point c, Clause 1, Article 240 and shall be prosecuted for the crime of spreading an infectious disease to people:

a) Escape from quarantine;

b) Failure to comply with quarantine regulations;

c) Refusing or evading isolation measures or forced isolation;

d) Failure to declare health status, incomplete declaration or false declaration”.

Nam Dan District Police fined a woman who returned from Hai Duong but did not make a medical declaration. Photo courtesy of CTV

Thus, those who do not declare their health status, make incomplete declarations or make false declarations, causing the spread of Covid-19 to others may be prosecuted for the crime of spreading infectious diseases to others as prescribed in Article 240 of the 2015 Penal Code.

Accordingly, the penalty for those who do not declare health information, make incomplete declarations or make false declarations is a fine of 50 - 200 million VND or imprisonment from 01 - 05 years.

In addition, the offender may also be imprisoned from 05 to 10 years if it leads to the declaration of an epidemic under the authority of the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee or the Minister of Health or causes the death of 01 person.

In cases leading to the declaration of an epidemic under the authority of the Prime Minister or causing the death of two or more people, the offender may even be subject to a prison sentence of 10 to 12 years.

Additional penalties for the crime of spreading infectious diseases to people include a fine of 20 to 100 million VND, a ban on holding positions, practicing a profession or doing certain jobs for 1 to 5 years.