Nguyen Van Thanh, a Party member, was director of the Hanoi Construction Investment Company No 2, a subsidiary of the Hanoi Housing Development and Investment Corporation (Handico).

On Friday the Hanoi Party Committee had decided to suspend Thanh from all committee activities for 90 days and sought a review of the responsibility of all related parties with respect to his violations.

Thanh and his wife were diagnosed with Covid on Thursday.

The couple, residents of the capital’s Thanh Xuan District, traveled to Da Nang City from April 30 to May 2.

On May 4, Da Nang reported its first cases in the latest outbreak that broke out in Vietnam on April 27.

Within 10 days of returning home, Thanh and his wife visited several places in Hanoi, went to work normally and were in contact with many people.

On May 9 Thanh's wife started to show Covid symptoms and visited a local clinic, but it refused to check her for reasons not known yet. The clinic has been closed pending an inspection.

After Thanh too developed symptoms on May 12, the couple went to the Vietnam – Soviet Friendship Hospital, and tested positive.

According to the hospital, it was not until their rapid test returned positive that they admitted to visiting Da Nang.

But Thanh has said he fulfilled his health declaration responsibility.

Handico said Thanh had failed to isolate himself after visiting high-risk areas and visited many places after returning in violation of Covid prevention regulations.

The couple have infected at least three other people in Hanoi, and as a result of their actions, five locations in the city have been isolated, including the areas where they live and work.

Hanoi authorities said the police will consider criminal proceedings if more infections are recorded as linked to the couplt in the coming days.

Vietnam has had 953 cases of Covid in 26 cities and provinces since April end.