Covid-19: 367 stay-home notices, 130 quarantine orders breached as of Jan 25

SINGAPORE — A total of 367 stay-home notices (SHN) and 130 quarantine orders had been breached as of Jan 25.

This was out of 308,442 stay-home notices and 268,385 quarantine orders issued by Jan 25 during the Covid-19 pandemic, Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim said in Parliament on Tuesday (Feb 2).

The Minister of State for Home Affairs was responding to a parliamentary question by Mr Louis Chua, Member of Parliament for Sengkang Group Representation Constituency.

Mr Chua, who is from the Workers’ Party, had asked how many stay-home orders and quarantine orders were breached were to date and the range of enforcement action taken.

Assoc Prof Faishal said that people who disregarded these orders may be prosecuted under the Infectious Diseases Act and be liable to a fine of up to S$10,000 or up to six months’ jail, or both.

He cited the example of how a Singaporean who had returned from Myanmar in March last year was put on stay-home notice, but on the night of his return, he went to a hawker centre to eat bak kut teh (pork rib soup) and was later jailed six weeks.

Public agencies may also take administrative action against those who breach their stay-home notice or quarantine order, he added.

He noted that a permanent resident (PR) had lost his PR status and had been barred from re-entering Singapore for not keeping to stay-home notice requirements.

The authorities have adopted technology to monitor those under stay-home notice or quarantine orders, Assoc Prof Faishal said.

For example, since last August, individuals serving the notice at their place of residence must wear an electronic monitoring device, which uses global positioning system, 4G or Bluetooth signals to determine if they were within the range of their residences.

“During the 14-day period, persons wearing these devices may receive notifications on the devices and need to acknowledge them in a timely manner.

“Any attempt to leave their place of residence or tamper with the electronic device will result in alerts being sent to the authorities, who will then conduct follow-up investigations, and take further enforcement actions if necessary,” Assoc Prof Faishal said.

Mr Chua asked about the protocol for the use of the Homer mobile application and whether it is compulsory for all long-term visit pass holders and visitors to Singapore to use it.

The Homer app submits a user’s current location to the authorities several times a day and allows the user to submit their health status three times a day and to verify their identities with a selfie photo.

Assoc Prof Faishal said that the app was introduced last April and is used alongside electronic monitoring devices to monitor the health and location of people under quarantine.