Colombian man caught after fleeing quarantine facility in Hoi An

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The passport of Leyson Smith Santamaria Orjuela from Colombia. He has escaped from a quarantine site for COVID-19 in Hoi An city (Photo courtesy of Quang Nam Police Department)

A Colombian man who fled from a COVID-19 quarantine facility in Hoi An city, central Quang Nam province, on April 11, was found and returned to the facility on April 13.

Leyson Smith Santamaria Orjuela, 22, came to Hoi An in late March 2020 after travelling through many localities in Vietnam. The man, whose visa already expired on February 22, was taken to a quarantine facility in Hoi An.

After he tested negative for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 for the first time, he was moved to another quarantine facility at a resort in the city on April 10, according to the provincial Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

However, Orjuela left the resort without approval at around 19:00 on April 11.

He was found again by authorities in Quang Nam’s Nui Thanh district early on April 13 and returned to the same resort for quarantining as regulated by the health ministry.

The provincial Department for Foreign Service is contacting relevant agencies of Colombia to implement citizen protection.

Quang Nam has so far quarantined 6,116 people at health centres, hotels and homes, of whom 2,603 have completed their quarantine periods. Out of the 2,608 samples taken, 2,591 have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2.

Three COVID-19 patients (No 31, 33 and 57) found in the province have already been released from hospital after treatment and quarantine.

Earlier, an American woman also fled from a hospital in the central city of Da Nang on March 30. She was then captured by local police and later tested negative for SARS-CoV-2.