The Latest: Video of forced test gets attention in Vietnam

HANOI — Video footage of police officers in southern Vietnam violently escorting a women to take a COVID-19 test has gone viral as authorities requested an investigation of the case on Wednesday, local media reported.

In a video shown on the website of the state-owned Tuoi Tre newspaper, two riot police officers locked the woman’s arms behind her back in front of her crying child as they took her out of an apartment in Binh Duong province.

According to the newspaper, the officers broke the lock of the woman's apartment after she refused to attend a routine coronavirus test at her condominium building on Tuesday.

The woman said she was busy with an online yoga class and did not want to go for the test because the testing site might be crowded, the newspaper reported.

The video shows the woman was taken to the site, where a police officer held her arms as a health officer took a swab sample.

Provincial authorities have ordered an investigation of the individuals involved in the incident, the newspaper said.

Under Vietnamese laws, people who resist procedures needed to contain contagious diseases and go on to spread the disease face up to five years in prison, but police cannot break into private household without a warrant.

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