Man with COVID-19 Jailed for Trying to Leave S’pore When He Was Not Even Supposed to Leave the Hospital

When you’ve just taken a COVID-19 test, leaving your house, hospital, or place of quarantine should be the last thing on your mind.

After all, you may be carrying the disease that has so far claimed over 4 million lives worldwide.

However, one man not only left a hospital while waiting for his COVID-19 test result, but tried to take a flight out of the country.

Man with COVID-19 Tried to Leave S’pore When He Wasn’t Supposed to Leave the Hospital

On 18 April last year, Balachandran Parthiban, a resident of Jurong Penjuru dormitory, reported sick at his dorm.

He had developed a fever and sore throat.

Shortly after, he was taken to the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) by ambulance to undergo a COVID-19 swab test at around 12.45pm.

An hour later, the 26-year-old was transferred to the hospital’s “fever screening area” at SGH’s multi-story car park. There, he was repeatedly told to wait for his swab test results.

Instead of doing so, however, Balachandran left the car park at around 5.35pm without telling anyone because he wanted to buy a flight ticket back to India.

He walked 2.1km before taking a public bus and taxi to Changi Airport. There, he tried unsuccessfully to buy a flight ticket and loitered at Terminal 1 for around four hours.

The police found him at the terminal and escorted him back to SGH. He was later found to be COVID-19 positive.

On 8 June, Balachandran finally completed his period of isolation in the hospital and was allowed to return to his dorm as he was diagnosed to be no longer infectious.

Still, he was ordered to serve another 14 days’ leave of absence and was not allowed to leave the dorm.

But that’s exactly what he did.

On 16 June, the 26-year-old breached his isolation order to head to the airport hoping he could fly back to India.

According to TODAY, he wanted to leave Singapore because he knew that there were many dormitory residents who were infected.

But his attempt to buy a flight ticket was once again unsuccessful.

So, he spent the night sleeping at the airport before going to a relative’s home in Tampines the next day, where he revealed that he had left his dormitory without permission.

The relative informed Balachandran’s supervisor, and the police arrived to escort him back to the dormitory that same day.

Jailed 9 Months

For his actions, Balachandran was sentenced to nine months’ jail today (12 July).

He pleaded guilty in May to one charge each of exposing others to the risk of COVID-19 and leaving an isolation area without permission.

His pro bono lawyer had asked for him to be remanded in the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for psychiatric evaluation, and the request was granted.

The 26-year-old was diagnosed with “adjustment disorder with mixed disturbance of emotions and conduct”.

However, he still had the capacity to differentiate right from wrong and was not of unsound mind, the psychiatrist, Dr Stephen Phang, found.

Dr Phang added that Balachandran later developed full-blown “schizophreniform psychosis” which was likely caused by the “ongoing stress of being held under conditions of security, together with his ongoing concerns about his family situation back in India”.

Balachandran reported hearing voices instructing him to commit suicide while in IMH. The voices made it difficult for him to control his actions.

He’s now clinically well and is on a reduced dosage of antipsychotic medication.

Featured Image: Sing Studio / Shutterstock.com