Woman Got 5 Months’ Jail Time for Lying to Contact Tracers in SAFRA COVID-19 Cluster

One thing has been made abundantly clear during the Covid-19 pandemic in Singapore: if you disregard the Government’s orders, they will come down hard on you. 

Whether you’ve left home to eat Bak Kut Teh on a stay-home notice or organised illegal social gatherings, the government will find out sooner or later.

One woman found this out the hard way when she lied to contact tracers just to avoid rumours of an affair.

Woman Got 5 Months’ Jail Time for Lying to Contact Tracers in SAFRA COVID-19 Cluster

A 65-year-old woman was sentenced to jail for five months on Friday (8 Jan) for not telling contact tracers that she met a man five times.

The woman, Oh Bee Hiok, was part of the infamous SAFRA Jurong cluster.

According to CNA, Oh is the first woman to be sentenced for such an offence in relation to the pandemic.

In addition to charges for hindering Ministry of Health (MOH) officers in their work, Oh also faced two charges of hindering healthcare workers and instigating the man she met to omit information.

So, what happened?

Withheld Information From the Start

Oh first saw a doctor on 17 Feb 2020.

She developed a fever a few days later on 21 Feb, but did not see a doctor, and simply continued to take her medication.

She then visited a doctor again on 24 Feb, and this time, she was advised to go to the emergency department and later tested positive for Covid-19.

On 26 Feb, an epidemiologist spoke to Oh for contact tracing purposes, asking the 65-year-old about her activities from 3 Feb to 17 Feb.

Oh said she typically visited the wet market on some days to buy groceries alone, but would otherwise stay at home.

Then, two MOH officers questioned Oh for more information, emphasising that she should not leave out any details.

But instead of revealing the whole truth, Oh released small bits of new information to the officers, saying she had visited a temple for a Chinese New Year dinner on 7 Feb.

At the time, Oh’s grandson was also unwell, and Oh knew this.

He later tested positive for Covid-19, having contracted it from Oh.

Then, some incriminating details came to light.

Finally Revealed She Had Been to SAFRA Jurong Dinner

When another MOH officer conducted contact tracing for another case, she discovered that the other case had met Oh at the Joy Garden Restaurant at SAFRA Jurong on 15 Feb.

The dinner and karaoke event led to a huge Covid-19 cluster back in February last year, with nearly 40 infections.

The contact tracer asked Oh if she had been to SAFRA Jurong and why she had not said anything about it before.

Oh responded that she was only there for a short while.

The 65-year-old refused to elaborate on her wet market trips and was also defensive when speaking to the contact tracer.

The officer warned her that it was an offence to conceal any information, but Oh seems to have disregarded this admonishment.

Met a Man Five Times, Kept it Secret From Contact Tracers

After launching investigations against Oh, MOH discovered that she had met a 72-year-old man five times between 4 Feb and 20 Feb at the following places:

• West Coast Plaza on 4 Feb
• for a Chinese New Year dinner on 6 Feb
• at a cafe in IMM on 16 Feb
• West Coast Plaza on 18 Feb
• Westgate mall on 20 Feb

The authorities discovered the meetings after reviewing the man’s and Oh’s car park gantry records, carpark CCTV footage, and the man’s phone records.

Oh only admitted to meeting the man a day after an MOH investigating officer took a statement from her on 8 Mar.

She said she met the man on days when she did not have to cook and when her husband was away playing badminton.

She also admitted to intentionally withholding this information as she wanted to keep her meetings with the man a secret.

She didn’t want her family or the man’s family to think they were having an affair, and spread rumours.

Well, look how well that turned out.

When the man started experiencing symptoms, Oh requested him to keep schtum about his infection.

The man later tested positive for Covid-19 on 20 Mar.

For her offence, Oh could have been jailed for up to six months, fined up to S$10,000, or both.

The 65-year-old plans to file an appeal against her sentence.

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