• Ang Siu Yen was ordered to stay home till she got a negative Covid-19 swab test result
• But she left home on the day she received an MC and the day after
• She took rides on public buses and MRT trains, met her boyfriend and went shopping
   

SINGAPORE — A 22-year-old woman was jailed for three weeks on Wednesday (Sept 1) for breaking Covid-19 laws, by leaving her home after being diagnosed with acute respiratory infection symptoms.

Ang Siu Yen had been given a four-day medical certificate (MC) and told to stay home until she received a negative result for her Covid-19 swab test. 

But shortly afterwards, she took public transport many times including on buses and MRT trains, met her boyfriend and shopped in various malls.

Ang, a Singapore permanent resident from Malaysia, pleaded guilty to one charge under the Infectious Diseases (Covid-19 – Stay Orders) Regulations 2020. Another charge was taken into consideration for sentencing.

WENT OUT ON TWO DAYS

The court heard that she visited Healthway Medical Clinic along Yishun Avenue 11 on the morning of Oct 24 last year to seek treatment for a runny nose, cough with phlegm, and a dry sore throat.

A doctor diagnosed her with an upper respiratory tract infection, telling her to go for a Covid-19 swab test and stay home until she received the results. Ang acknowledged this and the doctor issued her a four-day MC from Oct 24 to 27.

She returned to her rental flat on Yishun Ring Road after being swabbed, but left several hours later.

Court documents showed that she took a public bus to Yishun MRT Station, went to the Cheng Siong supermarket outlet at Junction Nine mall to shop with her boyfriend Song Mun Jian, and went back home in a public bus.

The next day, she left home again and took several public buses to the National Library in Bugis. 

While she was out, a doctor from the clinic went to her house to tell her that she needed to take another swab test. The first one had been rejected.

As she was not home, he contacted her through her housemate’s mobile phone and reminded her that she should not leave her home.

However, Ang met her boyfriend again around 2pm and they shopped at Bugis Junction mall, before taking the train to Yew Tee MRT Station.

She also bumped into a friend and walked two dogs with the other woman, even posing for a photograph. She then walked to Yew Tee Point mall and had dinner with her boyfriend before returning home around 8pm.

The authorities traced her steps using records via her EZ-Link card, which was used to pay fares for public transportation.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Norman Yew sought four weeks’ jail, saying that there was “no necessity or urgency” for Ang to leave home and that she had not taken seriously the requirement to stay home while on MC.

Ang’s lawyer Jerome Tan, who asked for a shorter jail term of three weeks for his client, argued that she had gone out when her symptoms had subsided and that she had told the authorities she was sorry for taking the MC lightly.

In sentencing her, Principal District Judge Victor Yeo said that it was irrelevant whether she was still symptomatic or not, because people who have Covid-19 may not exhibit symptoms anyway.

Ang ultimately tested negative for the coronavirus.

She could have been jailed for up to six months or fined up to S$10,000, or both, for breaching Covid-19 laws.