Two men and one woman have been charged for allegedly committing Covid-19-related offences.

The men had left the house despite being given a medical certificate (MC) and being required to stay at home, while the woman had breached a Stay-Home Notice (SHN) after returning to Singapore from overseas.

If found guilty, all three could face up fines up to S$10,000, or up to six months in prison, or both.

Ignoring their 5-day MC

The first of the men, 28-year-old Prabu S/O Rajendran, was given a five-day MC for an acute respiratory infection on Apr. 2.

As such the Singaporean was required by law to stay home for the duration of his MC, which would expire on Apr. 6.

However, he is alleged to have left his home the same evening he received his MC, spending the night at a friend's house instead.

Similarly, Chong Tet Choe — 35-year-old permanent resident — was given a five-day MC on Apr. 29 for an acute respiratory infection.

Chong is accused of having left his place of accommodation on four separate occasions, between Apr. 30 and May 3.

He had allegedly done so to run personal errands.

Both men were charged in court in the month of June.

In a statement addressing the alleged breaches, the Ministry of Health said that 35 per cent of cases who had been issued a five-day MC for acute respiratory infections had breached the stay order.

"(They) continued to engage in activities after symptoms onset and before they were isolated. Of these, nearly half went to work, and many visited shopping centres, supermarkets and hawker centres."

Healthcare professionals have been issuing five-day MC's for patients with such symptoms since Feb. 14.

Breaching her SHN

Returning from the United Kingdom on Mar. 23, Esther Tan Ying Ling was served with an SHN.

She was required to remain in her place of residence for a 14 days.

The 23-year-old Singaporean however is alleged to have visited a food centre, as well as a medical clinic where she had provided a false declaration of her travel history.

Tan was charged in court on Aug. 5.

From Aug. 10, 11:59pm, all travellers arriving in Singapore will be required to wear an electronic monitoring device if they are not serving their SHN at designated facilities.

The use of this monitoring device also means that the officers will not have to conduct checks as frequently as what they are doing now.

Of the three who have been charged, Chong's case was mentioned in court on Aug. 7.

Tan and Prabu are scheduled for further mentions later this month.

Top photo by Andrea Ang via Unsplash