Five traffic policemen have been sent to an isolation ward in Dong Nai Province after they were identified as close contacts of a COVID-19 case, who is a traffic regulation violator, in Ho Chi Minh City.

According to the police bureau of Dong Nai’s Xuan Loc District – the supervising body of the five – on Sunday, these officers were deemed at high risk of coronavirus transmission after booking a lawbreaker who later tested positive for the pathogen.

The patient was identified to be N.X.G.T., 17, who hails from Binh Thuan Province and is currently residing in Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City.

He was pulled over by Xuan Loc police officers while heading to Ho Chi Minh City from his hometown of Binh Thuan Province.

After checking T.’s personal papers, the policemen found his violations and decided to impound his bike as per the law. 

T. then took a coach and proceeded to Ho Chi Minh City, where he tested positive for the virus on Saturday. 

After being informed about the positive case, the Xuan Loc police bureau summoned the five officers, tested them for COVID-19, and sent them to the local quarantine ward in Trang Bom District.

They are also screening indirect contacts who came in touch with the five officers and ask them to self-isolate as instructed by the COVID-19 prevention guidelines. 

The coronavirus outbreak is seeing a steep rise in Vietnam with 4,096 domestic transmissions reported in 34 provinces and cities since April 27, when the country found the first case after about a month without any known infection in the community.

Most of the patients were detected at industrial parks in Bac Giang and Bac Ninh Province, located in northern Vietnam.

In Ho Chi Minh City, most of its cases have been traced to Revival Ekklesia Mission, a Christian congregation based in Go Vap District.

Ho Chi Minh City reinstated an extensive social distancing order on Monday as the virus has spread quickly in the past few days.

Non-essential businesses have been suspended while transportation to and from the city have been restricted.

Vietnam has detected 7,236 cumulative COVID-19 cases, including 5,733 local infections, since the virus first hit the country on January 23, 2020, according to the Ministry of Health’s data.

A total of 2,950 patients have recovered while 47 have died, most having suffered critical pre-existing health problems.

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