Vietnam sentenced a man to five years in prison on Monday for violating COVID-19 quarantine laws and spreading the virus to others, according to official media.

According to the state-run Vietnam News Agency (VNA), Le Van Tri, 28, was found guilty of "spreading dangerous infectious diseases" during a one-day trial at the People's Court of the southern province of Ca Mau.

Thanks to targeted mass testing, active contact tracing, strong border controls, and enforced quarantine, Vietnam has been one of the world's coronavirus success stories. However, since late April, fresh clusters of infections have tainted that record.

“Tri returned to Ca Mau from Ho Chi Minh City... and violated the quarantine regulations of 21 days,” according to the news agency.

“Tri infected eight people, one of whom died of the virus after a month of treatment,” the statement continued.

The Ca Mau court did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters right away.

Since the epidemic began, Ca Mau, Vietnam's southernmost province, has reported only 191 cases and two deaths, compared to over 260,000 cases and 10,685 deaths in Ho Chi Minh City, the country's coronavirus epicenter.

Vietnam is fighting a deteriorating COVID-19 outbreak that has infected over 536,000 people and killed 13,385, with the great bulk of the deaths occurring in the last several months.

On the same allegations, two more people were sentenced to 18-month and two-year suspended sentences throughout the country.