Trump’s national security adviser treated as ‘human petri dish’ during visit to COVID-free Vietnam

Vietnam so far has only recorded fewer than 1,400 cases of the novel coronavirus, a far cry from the world-record 12 million-plus cases recorded so far in the United States.

Bloomberg reports that Vietnamese officials were extremely wary of Trump national security adviser Robert O'Brien when he visited their country on official business and severely restricted his movements due to fears that he would spread the disease to their citizens.

"O’Brien’s Vietnamese hosts regarded their guest and his entourage as human petri dishes and restricted the delegation to a single floor of the luxurious Metropole hotel in Hanoi," Bloomberg reports. "Room service meals were left outside the U.S. guests’ doors, and Vietnamese officials in head-to-toe protective gear administered virus tests."

It turns out that Vietnamese officials' concerns were justified, as a member of O'Brien's Air Force flight crew, who wasn't even allowed to stay with O'Brien during his visit, subsequently tested positive for the virus.

Nonetheless, Vietnamese officials greeted O'Brien warmly and welcomed his visit "despite their concerns he might infect them," according to Bloomberg.