A 22-year-old male Singaporean has been charged in court on Friday (Apr. 24) for breaching his quarantine order to eat breakfast at his neighbourhood shopping mall.

Breaching of a quarantine order is an offence under the Infectious Diseases Act.

Left house 30 minutes before quarantine ended

According to a Ministry of Health (MOH) press release, Tay Chun Hsien was issued a quarantine order on Mar. 20, which required him to be isolated at home from Mar. 19 until 12pm on Mar. 22.

When the quarantine order was served to him, Tay acknowledged its contents and that he could not leave his residence for the duration of the quarantine period.

According to CNA, Tay is accused of leaving his home in Choa Chu Kang between 11:30am and 12pm, half an hour before his quarantine ended.

He thus breached his quarantine order by leaving his home to go to his neighbourhood shopping mall for breakfast without getting the permission of the Director of Medical Services, said the MOH release.

In court, Tay said that he did not engage a lawyer and told the judge that he intends to plead guilty, reported CNA.

Tay is due to return to court next Wednesday (Apr. 29) to plead guilty.

If convicted, he faces a fine of up to S$10,000, up to six months' imprisonment, or both.

Man who breached SHN sentenced to 6 weeks' imprisonment

The day prior, Thursday, Apr. 23, 34-year-old Alan Tham was sentenced to six weeks' imprisonment for breaching his Stay-Home Notice (SHN) to eat bak kut teh.

Judge Ong Hian Sun stated that it was clear that at the material time of Mar. 23, the accused was assessed to be have a low risk of transmission by the authorities, hence the court assessed the risk of transmission as low.

With regard to Tham's actions and culpability, the court assessed the level to be moderate.

Ong added that the court was of the view that six weeks imprisonment was warranted, to send a message to the accused and other like-minded individuals.

Top image via HDB website.