A 22-year-old woman, who worked as a nurse at Singapore General Hospital, was jailed seven weeks on Jan. 22 for repeatedly going out of her house several occasions, despite being served with a 14-day stay-home notice to quarantine herself.

Nurul Afiqah Binte Mohammed pleaded guilty to three charges under the Infectious Diseases Act.

Another four charges were taken into consideration.

What happened

Nurul returned to Singapore from Australia on March 21, 2020, after holidaying there.

At that time, it was mandatory for her to stay at home without going out for 14 days as part of quarantine measures against Covid-19.

She informed her mother she was supposed to remain at home for 14 days, but ended up leaving the house at least seven times.

Buy bubble tea

Within two days of her SHN period, on March 23, 2020, Nurul went to buy bubble tea and remained outside of her house for about one-and-a-half hours.

She took a bus to Causeway Point in Woodlands to go to the Koi outlet to get her drink.

Went to polytechnic to submit application

She even went to submit an application for further studies at Nanyang Polytechnic by taking a GrabHitch ride there, before going home via another private-hire car.

Met pregnant friend

On April 2, 2020, Nurul went to her pregnant friend's home in Punggol to help her with her wedding preparations.

Nurul left her house for more than five hours that day.

She did not wear a mask.

The other people in the friend's house, including the friend's parents, did not know about Nurul's SHN period.

Met pregnant friend again

Nurul returned the next day to the house to help her friend again.

It has since been revealed in court that Nurul's friend was pregnant at that time.

Tested positive for Covid-19

After her SHN period ended, Nurul visited Khoo Teck Puat Hospital on April 12, 2020.

She had developed a sore throat and was feverish.

She tested positive for Covid-19.

She was admitted to hospital on April 13.

She remained in a community care facility and discharged only after she tested negative on May 17, 2020.

Did not spread Covid-19 to others

It was noted in court that there is no evidence that Nurul spread Covid-19 to anyone.

SGH said Nurul is no longer employed there, according to CNA.

Under the Infectious Diseases Act, each charge of exposing others to the risk of infection carries a jail term of up to six months, fine of up to S$10,000, or both.

Top photo via Koi