Vietnamese seafood processors face legal charges for violating pandemic-control regulations

Authorities in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta – home to most of the country’s commercial aquaculture operations – have taken legal proceedings against a number of seafood businesses due to their alleged violations of regulations instituted to limit a national COVID-19 outbreak over the summer.

On 1 December, local police arrested Pham Huyen Trang, 41, and Luu Thanh Hung, 48, owners of a private seafood production facility in Long My, Hau Giang Province. They were charged with violating pandemic-prevention regulations and helping to spread the virus to the community, the Voice of Vietnam reported. The police allege Trang and Hung deliberately operated their processing facility without government permission during a national lockdown period and despite warnings from local authorities. As of 2 September, the outbreak from the facility caused infections to 13 people and cost the local government more than VND 300 million (USD 13,200, EUR 11,600).

In early November, the Tan Khoi Seafood Company Limited in Gia Rai, Bac Lieu Province, was investigated by local police after as many as 700 of its workers, accounting for 80 percent of its total workforce, were infected with COVID-19. Tan Khoi was accused of failing to carry out regular tests for its workers, as required by local government.

Around 500 workers at Chau Ba Thao Seafood Company Limited in Gia Rai also tested positive for the virus due to the spread of the original outbreak from the Tan Khoi plant, Nguoi Lao dong newspaper reported.

On 29 August, police in Ca Mau Province launched an investigation into an outbreak at Thanh Tam Seafood Service Company. The company’s director, Nguyen Chi Tam, 39, was accused of running his company without permission during the August lockdown, which contributed to new infections in the area, according to Tuoi Tre Online.

Since the middle of July, Vietnam’s government has instituted lockdowns in dozens of provinces and municipalities, Most of the restrictions were lifted in September but businesses, including seafood companies, are still required to apply disease-prevention measures. Vietnam’s government has said those who failed to follow the rules will face legal procedures.

Vietnam has had more than 14,500 new cases of the coronavirus as of 1 December, raising its total numbers of infections to more than 1.25 million people. New infections in the Mekong Delta are on the rise, forcing a number of provinces in the region to apply stricter measures to contain the spread of the outbreak.

Photo courtesy of NamLong Nguyen/Shutterstock