Authorities in Vietnam have found a Colombian man who escaped from a local quarantine camp last weekend.

The provincial steering committee on novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) prevention confirmed on Monday morning it had found Leyson Smith Santamaria Orjuela, a 22-year-old Colombian man.

Santamaria Orjuela broke out of a quarantine facility at the Hoa Co tourist villa in Cam Chau Ward, Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province, located in central Vietnam, on Saturday evening.

He wandered on foot to Nui Thanh District, where he was found by officers at a COVID-19 control post in the small hours of Monday.

According to Nguyen Van Son, vice-chairman of the Hoi An People’s Committee, the Colombian man arrived in Vietnam in February and traveled to many places in the country.

His visa expired on February 22 and he was eventually brought to the quarantine facility by authorities in Hoi An City.

“He has already been tested twice and both results came back negative for the novel coronavirus,” Son elaborated.

“He did not have contact with any COVID-19 patient and has already finished his 14-day isolation period.

The foreigner has continued to stay at the quarantine camp as he has no other place to stay, the city's leader explained.

The Quang Nam Department of External Relations is working with Colombian authorities to deliberate on necessary citizen protection measures.

The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has infected over 1.85 million people and killed more than 114,200 globally as of Monday morning, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

Vietnam has confirmed 262 COVID-19 cases in total, with 144 having recovered.

The country has yet to record a death from the disease.

Quang Nam Province has recorded only one COVID-19 patient to date, who has already walked out of the hospital free of the virus.

More than 520 people have completed their quarantine in the province, while 459 others are still staying at local isolation facilities.

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