German man caught after escaping Covid-19 quarantine

Gecken Stefan, 30, went from the central city of Da Nang to Thanh Hoa on April 5, and was quarantined at the north central province’s Ham Rong Conference Center on April 6 under prevailing quarantine policies. He was supposed to stay in quarantine until April 20, local reports said Monday, citing the Thanh Hoa Steering Committee on the Prevention and Control of Covid-19.

During the quarantine period, he tested negative twice on April 6 and April 11 for the novel coronavirus. Then, on Sunday night, he escaped from the quarantine facility and took a train from Thanh Hoa to Hanoi early Monday.

He was found by the capital city’s Hoan Kiem District police in a hotel on Hang Manh Street early Tuesday, and quarantined in Thach That District later.

The hotel he stayed in has now been barricaded for measures to be taken to limit possible spread of the Covid-19 virus.

A Colombian man in central Quang Nam had escaped from a Covid-19 quarantine facility Saturday, before being caught early Monday in the same province. Last month, an American woman was also caught back after escaping a quarantine facility in Da Nang.

Vietnam has confirmed 265 Covid-19 cases so far, 119 of them active and the others discharged.

The Covid-19 pandemic has claimed close to 120,000 lives as it affected 210 countries and territories.