Singapore — A judge sentenced an employee of a hotel to eight weeks in jail on Tuesday (Aug 10) for having gone to work for three days in Apr 2020 even though he had been given a medical certificate (MC).
A guest of 8 Hotel in the Lavender Street area had tested positive for Covid in Jan of last year. Chan Foo Mun, who worked as a receptionist at the hotel, later developed a cough and a stuffy nose.
He was then told not to go to work but to stay home if he were given a medical certificate (MC). However, he still went to work as he wanted to get paid.
As it turns out, he did not have Covid, despite the acute respiratory symptoms he was experiencing. However, Chan, 44, did not tell his workmates and supervisor about having been issued the medical certificate. The receptionist entered a guilty plea to two counts under the Infectious Diseases Act as he had exposed his colleagues and the public on two occasions while he had been under MC.
District Judge Jasvinder Kaur considered five additional similar charges for Chan’s sentencing and said that his sole saving grace was that he was not positive for Covid-19.
The judge said, “While I note the breaches were not committed due to frivolous reasons and he was concerned with his livelihood, this must be balanced with the fact that he was diagnosed with acute respiratory symptoms amid the circuit breaker, and he was prepared to place his own personal interests above the health of others whom he came into contact with.”
On Apr 19 of last year, when the country was still under the circuit breaker to prevent a further spread of Covid, Chan went to Care Family Clinic along Buffalo Road, after he had been coughing and had a blocked nose for three days.
The doctor who attended to him noted that he was suffering from acute respiratory infection with attendant acute respiratory symptoms, and told him that his MC and Stay-Home Notice would require him to remain at his home from Apr 19 to 23.
He was not allowed to leave his residence for any other reason than seeking medical treatment, not even to buy food or other supplies. He needed to get someone else to do this for him, the doctor said.
On that day, Chan did not wait for his MC and medicines, but left without paying and proceeded to go to work at 8 Hotel.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Kenneth Kee was quoted as saying, “The accused had done so because ‘it was troublesome.’ The accused knew of the hotel’s policy in force… and he did not want his pay to be deducted as a result of his inability to go to work.”
The receptionist went to work at the hotel from Apr 19 to 21, where he interacted with colleagues and other guests. He also went to a food centre at Block 527 Ang Mo Kio on Apr 20 while on his way to work.
On one occasion, he did not wear a mask at the elevator lobby of the building where he lives.
On Apr 22, he was visited at home by enforcement officers from the Ministry of Health, who told him that the law required him to stay home during the time period stated in his MC.
However, he left his residence to buy food again on Apr 23.
Since he had not tested positive for Covid, Mr Cory Wong, Chan’s lawyer, asked for a jail sentence of no more than six weeks, while DPP Kee asked that he be jailed for three months, pointing out that he had left the clinic before receiving his MC.
“In so doing, the accused was motivated by concerns of personal profit which he prioritised over public safety,” he said.
Chan could have been jailed for as long as six months and been fined $10,000. /TISG
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