Illustrative photo.
According to the airline's decision issued on December 2, the 28-year-old male attendant will be temporarily suspended from December 2-31 while they were considering a proper punishment for his violations, which can be dismissal.
The 28-year-old male attendant of the national flag carrier tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in his third viral testing on November 29 while self-quarantining at home in Ho Chi Minh City. However, he was then found to have transmitted the virus to a friend who came to stay with him. He was also reported to have visited many public places and come into contact with some other people during that time.
The same day, Vietnam Airlines also decided to suspend the head of the flight crew from work for 15 days for failing to supervise the decision to quarantine staff.
Speaking at the cabinet press conference chaired by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on December 2, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong said the national flag carrier must take the responsibility for the case, which, he said, was very serious as it has affected the community as well as the country’s pandemic prevention and control efforts over the past time.
"All individuals and groups involved must be handled strictly in line with legal regulations," the deputy minister stressed.
Vietnam Airlines on December 1 said that they were sorry that a staff member had transmitted SARS-CoV-2 to other people after he failed to follow quarantine regulations for virus prevention.
"Our attendant had been sent to a quarantine area after working on an international flight on November 14," the airlines said in a press release sent out on December 2. "After having negative results for coronavirus in two consecutive tests, he was allowed to self-quarantine at home following state regulations. However, he had failed to follow the rules for home quarantine when he went out and came into contact with other people and caused the virus to spread."
Vietnam Airlines said they would work closely with local authorities to have proper quarantine measures for their staff members and strictly deal with violations.