Marine Parade resident allegedly flouted Covid-19 quarantine order twice, hours before it ended

SINGAPORE — A Singaporean man accused of breaching his quarantine order twice about nine hours before it ended was charged in court on Friday (May 22).

George Heng Seng Huat, 54, was ordered to stay in isolation from Feb 10 to 24 at his Marine Drive flat in Marine Parade. 

Based on court documents, he allegedly left his home on the afternoon of Feb 24 not once but twice — first to “walk around” his block, then to go to Block 83 Marine Parade Central. 

This happened between 3pm and 3.30pm, hours before his order was to lapse at the end of that day. Court documents did not reveal what he did while outdoors.

On Friday, Heng told the court that he was having financial issues and planned to plead guilty. He will return to court on June 3.

Quarantine orders are served on those suspected to have come into contact with a Covid-19 patient. Court documents did not state with whom Heng could have been in contact.

He faces two charges under the Infectious Diseases Act. If convicted, he could be fined up to S$10,000, jailed up to six months, or face both penalties.

So far, two people have been handed fines for breaching their quarantine orders in a similar fashion.

Last month, Singaporean Tay Chun Hsien, 22, was fined S$1,500 after he flouted his quarantine order half an hour before it ended to have breakfast in a food court.  

Vardireddy Nageswara Reddy, a foreign worker from India, was fined S$3,500 earlier this week. He had breached his order a day before it was due to end to buy a shaver, as he was set to return to work the next day.