S’pore Condo’s Illegal Resident Tests Positive For Covid-19
With the stay-home advisories rolled out in full swing, most citizens are diligently observing social distancing.
This includes staying within the boundaries of one’s apartment or abodes & only hanging out with your next-of-kin.
However, a recent Covid-19 diagnosis at a local condo has netizens wondering why some of us just can’t seem to follow simple instructions.
Man secretly stayed at friend’s house
According to Zaobao, notices were posted at Signature Park apartments along Jalan Jurong Kechil on Monday (27 Apr), stating that someone had tested positive for Covid-19.
Upon scrutinising the notice, the resident interviewed realised that the patient in question had been a man who had bypassed security and “secretly stayed” at his friend’s house.
Crashed at friend’s apartment for several days
The illegal resident had allegedly entered his friend’s condo by being driven in via a car. The duration of his stay had lasted for “a few days”.
To complicate matters, the friend who had offered his place to stay was not the owner of the apartment, but a tenant.
Thorough checking of resident’s identities after incident
Stricter security measures have been implemented in the aftermath of the incident. All residents must now show their ID cards to grant them entry into the condo.
Residents’ access pass rights have been revoked, and the rule of having “no visitors over” is firmly enforced.
The apartment complex has also conducted a thorough cleaning of the premises in lieu of the incident. Urgent contact tracing is now underway to determine the other people who may have come into contact with the patient, shares the Ministry of Health (MOH).
Serious violation of circuit breaker measures
For context, it is not legal at all to reside in a friend’s premises during the Circuit Breaker period.
This is to prevent this exact situation of cross-contact between potential patients and fellow residents of condos, HDB flats or apartment units.
Up to $10,000 fine and/or 6 months’ jail
The serious violation will be investigated by the relevant authorities, and if found guilty, both parties could be charged accordingly in court.
Penalties could vary depending on the case count stemming from this incident, due to violations of circuit breaker rules.
For first-time offenders, Zaobao reports that they could face fines of up to $10,000 and/or jail terms of up to 6 months.
Please stay in your own homes
This unfortunate incident highlights the costly lengths society has to go to just to make sure that the spread of Covid-19 is contained.
We hope that this will be the first and last of similar incidents, and that most of us will bear in mind the possible consequences of flouting Circuit Breaker measures, before making irresponsible decisions.
What are your thoughts on the incident? Do you think that more can be done to prevent similar violations? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
Featured image adapted from Google Maps.
