HCMC People's Court sentenced Tran Chi Hao, 34, to four and a half years in jail, while Nguyen Thanh Trung, 34, and Nguyen Quang Thang, 29, were sentenced to seven years for brokering illegal entry to Vietnam.

Tran Chi Hao, Nguyen Thanh Trung and Nguyen Quang Thang stand before the HCMC People's Court on December 1, 2020.

From June to July, a group of Chinese asked Hao to help rent houses in HCMC. Hao helped four of them find accommodation in the city's Binh Tan District. Trung and Thang, cooperating with Hao, assisted 17 other Chinese to find accommodation in the area. Fully aware the 21 had entered Vietnam illegally, the trio offered to help the group with translations and other services for a fee of VND22.5 million ($971.18).

When the second coronavirus outbreak hit Vietnam’s central Da Nang City in late July, the Chinese had requested Hao to help them leave, but were caught on the street by police.

Following further investigations, Hao, Trung and Thang were arrested on September 17.

Vietnam has recorded 1,347 Covid-19 cases so far. A total 35 have died from the disease, many being elderly patients with underlying conditions like diabetes or kidney failure.

A 32-year-old English teacher in HCMC broke Vietnam's 88-day streak of no community transmission on Monday, having contracted the virus from one of his friends, a flight attendant previously infected with Covid-19.

Russia, France returnees add to Vietnam’s Covid-19 tally

Vietnam confirmed 10 new imported Covid-19 cases from Russia and France Thursday afternoon, taking the nation’s active case count to 127.

JICA continues to support Vietnam with Covid-19 testing equipment aid

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) provided the Vietnam National Hospital of Tropical Diseases with testing equipment worth JPY60 million (US$574,698) on November 25 to help Vietnam in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Vietnam reports five imported cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday evening

Vietnam reports five imported cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday evening.

Health Minister requests faster testing of Covid-19

Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long on November 24 urged testing for Covid-19 to be accelerated, warning about very high risks of coronavirus transmissions from other countries as the pandemic situation remains tense around the world.

Source: VnExpress