Since Covid-19 appeared on our shores last month, folks from the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Singapore Police Force have been working hard to contain the outbreak.
A vital part of the process is contact tracing, which allows the authorities to ringfence the outbreak, and ‘predict’ future cases.
However, some individuals interviewed by the authorities have not been cooperative.
On Tuesday (25 Feb), the MOH served charges to a Chinese couple for allegedly providing false information about their whereabouts.
Coincidentally, the husband was Singapore’s 16th Covid-19 case.
According to MOH, the individuals in question comprised Hu Jun, a 38-year-old man from Wuhan and his wife Shi Sha, a 36-year-old who stays in Singapore.
Hu arrived in Singapore from Wuhan on 22 Jan and developed symptoms on 23 Jan.
He tested positive for Covid-19 on 31 Jan, and was the country’s 16th case.
The 38-year-old has since made a full recovery and was discharged on 19 Feb.
As soon as Hu tested positive for Covid-19, MOH conducted contact tracing to identify those who may have been potentially infected by him.
Shi was naturally identified as Hu’s close contact since they were husband and wife. She was issued a Quarantine Order on 1 Feb.
However, MOH found that the couple had provided false information to the authorities when asked about their whereabouts from 22-29 Jan for contact tracing purposes.
Shi, in particular, had provided fake information while serving her Quarantine Order.
MOH successfully uncovered their “true movements” after conducting thorough investigations.
In light of the potentially grave repercussions, as well as the public health risks they could have posed, MOH served the couple with charges on Tuesday (25 Feb).
Their case will be heard on Friday (28 Feb).
Anyone found guilty of an offence under the Infectious Diseases Act can be fined up to $10,000 or jailed up to 6 months, or both, for the first offence.
Kudos to folks at MOH and the Singapore Police Force for establishing the true movements of the couple.
We hope they will be seriously dealt with in court so others will have second thoughts about providing fake information when they are in a similar position.
Featured image adapted from Facebook.
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