COVID-19 Infected Wuhan Man Who Allegedly Lied to MOH Explained Why Information Given Was Incorrect

No matter what’s happening in the world today, the unforgettable reality of the COVID-19 pandemic still looms behind our backs.

When the news first broke out, everyone and their mothers were hit with shock, not knowing what to do next, which later turned to fear, and carried on to The Great Singapore Toilet Paper Sale.

Unfortunately, in such a time, it only leaves space for more confusion to happen as a result of miscommunication.

Wuhan Man Testifies Against Alleged Misinformation

Hu Jun, 39, is a man who hails from Wuhan, China, which is the epicentre and the beginning of the origins of COVID-19.

On Wednesday, 27 Jan, he testified in court against the allegations of him intentionally withholding contact tracing information of his whereabouts from the Ministry of Health (MOH) under the Infectious Diseases Act.

Hu tested positive for COVID-19 on 31 Jan 2020, after arriving in Singapore nine days before the Chinese New Year celebration to visit his 37-year-old Chinese national wife Shi Sha, their two children, and parents here.

He faces accusations of not telling a health officer where he had gone and what he had done here during his stay, including viewing property, going to restaurants to eat, and shopping in malls.

However, Hu wanted to defend himself against these accusations, and made a stand when the defence’s case opened to tell his side of the story – hold on to your toilet paper, for it’s gonna be a long recount.

He Came To Visit His Family Here

Through the help of a Mandarin interpreter, Hu testified that he arrived in Singapore on the morning of 22 Jan 2020 on a travel visa, and that it was his fifth time visiting the country.

The main reason for his visit was to visit his family here, as he and his wife had previously visited Singapore in their search for schools and enrolled their then nine-year-old eldest daughter in an international school.

Hu’s parents then moved here to take care of the children, renting an apartment at Loft@Nathan in the Tanglin area and have been living there since.

On previous occasions when Hu visited, he only mostly went to tourist spots like Sentosa or the Singapore Zoo, which implied that he was not very familiar with the country.

Hu recalled that around December 2019, there were messages being passed around in China about a nameless “strange disease”, which no one was clear about except for the fact that it came from a seafood market and had to do with eating bats.

Before he came to Singapore, Wuhan had already begun to panic, and so did he, who started stocking up on masks and hand sanitiser. When he arrived in Changi Airport, he had to go through a mandatory temperature check which recorded his temperature as normal.

After exiting the arrival area, he saw his wife Shi Sha waiting for him, accompanied by a group of seven of her friends who arrived on the same flight from Wuhan. He was not aware of who they were at the time.

Shi Sha then called for a minibus to take her friends to their places of residence, and went home with Hu to their Nathan Road apartment. Upon arriving home, Hu’s father asked him to change out of his clothes and sanitise it with his other belongings in light of him coming from Wuhan.

Hu had some food and took a nap after, but was awoken by his wife who wanted him to accompany her to lunch with a friend, part of that same group he had seen earlier at the airport.

So he followed her, hailing a taxi to go to a restaurant. At first, Hu didn’t know what the name of it was as he’d simply followed her, but after clarification with his first lawyer, it was actually Long Beach Seafood @ Stevens.

Visited Many Places In Singapore

Hu and Shi continued to visit other places together during his stay, including a property viewing, shopping at Ngee Ann City, and visiting the Chinese embassy to run some errands. All were within the timeframe of 22 Jan to 24 Jan.

Hu claimed that he was feeling well at the time, and had stayed in their neighbour’s apartment, who had kindly lent it to them for use while they were away for Chinese New Year.

When the neighbour returned, Hu and Shi checked into Studio M Hotel on the morning of 28 Jan, wanting some “private time”.

The hotel’s staff immediately took his temperature, which was normal, and informed him that they would check his temperature twice a day upon realising that he was from Wuhan.

Aaaand it was from here that everything started to go downhill.

Hu woke up the next morning with a cough, which he was not alarmed by as he frequently developed it due to his smoking habits. However, Shi touched his forehead and found it to be warm.

After taking a shower, Hu felt dizzy and was worried that he’d somehow caught the virus. Shi found out through a search that Singapore was able to conduct a COVID-19 test with results out within a few hours.

Hu contemplated against bearing the steep cost of the test or ensuring the safety of his dear family, saying: “My children, my parents, they will all have been in contact with me, so to me the cost is one thing, but more important is the safety of a life, and if really I was infected, I would be able to protect more people if I go for the test.”

He was also aware that Wuhan was under a lockdown at the time and had imposed strict measures to prevent the spread of the virus, but did not know the workflow regarding contact tracing in Singapore.

Test Results Showed COVID-19 Positive

Shi called for a vehicle to take them both to SGH, worried that his life and others they had been in contact with were at stake. They waited in a queue at the crowded emergency department and informed the doctor of his dizziness and other symptoms.

The doctor took his temperature, informing them it was above 38°C, and requested for Hu’s documents. After seeing the first page of his passport, the doctor asked if he was from Wuhan, and had another medical staff take Hu away after he confirmed it.

Shi, faced with the bizarre situation, became emotional and agitated, demanding to know where he was being taken to. She also asked the staff to do a test on her, as she had been with him for the past few days and had a high chance of contracting it as well.

Hu was placed on a bed where a scan on his lungs was done and shown to be normal. After giving a blood sample and taking some medicine, he was transferred to an isolation ward with two layers of glass doors.

All of a sudden, Hu began to feel unnaturally cold, despite putting on a patient’s clothing over his own clothes and covering himself with a blanket. He asked the nurse to bring him more blankets after texting this to his wife, but the three more she brought did little to shield him against the chill he felt.

“My hands and legs kept shivering uncontrollably,” testified Hu. “I told my wife I was feeling so cold that I could not take it anymore. I felt distressed, I felt that I could not live on anymore,” he recounted, adding that his wife felt helpless and was sobbing out of worry.

He also said it was his first hospital admission, and felt out of sorts while being faced with the reality of the pandemic, which was really sudden “to me and the whole world”.

Miscommunication

Dr Yang Yong, a doctor at the hospital, asked Hu about his previous movement to which he explained that his wife had called for a car to take them here, using the Chinese words “jiao che” (calling a car).

However, the doctor misheard this as “jia che”, meaning to drive a car, and thought Shi drove them to the hospital, thus reflecting this in his description of Hu’s activity.

Later on, a health official also called Hu to ask some questions, but Hu said that she did not state that it was for contact tracing purposes.

He claimed that the woman spoke really quickly, and that the conversation lasted for only about five minutes. Her questions were also very direct and specific, and did not probe for further information.

“The feeling was – she was just trying to verify some info through me, and it was not for me to provide information or to add on any information and there was no chance for me to elaborate,” Hu said.

He also admitted that he did not tell her some information, such as where he went with his wife, citing reasons that she did not ask about specific outings, did not follow a chronological order, and that he didn’t know the names of many places he’d been to.

Had the conversation taken place face-to-face, he would have been able to show her photos of the property they visited through his mobile phone, he added.

Shi also faces certain charges against her, including withholding information, giving false information and failing to respond fully and truthfully to a health officer under the Infectious Diseases act. She will take the stand soon as well.

Originally, the couple had requested to be able to go back to China and return to Singapore for the trial, which the district court approved at first, only for the decision to be revoked by the high court a few weeks later.

Hu and his wife face up to six months’ jail, a fine of up to S$10,000, or both per charge if they are found guilty for crimes under the Infectious Diseases Act.

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