Jail for COVID-19-positive man who lied to contact tracers before confessing in letter to health minister

SINGAPORE: After testing positive for COVID-19, a university undergraduate was concerned that contact tracing efforts would uncover his illegal gatherings with his friends during the "circuit breaker" period.

He told his friends to lie, coming up with fictional narratives of chance meetings and getting them to delete WhatsApp messages.

However, he later confessed his misdeeds in a letter to the health minister on his own accord.

Leon Chua Yi Yan, 27, was jailed for six weeks and fined S$15,000 on Monday (Jul 26).

He pleaded guilty to four charges of breaking COVID-19 regulations, with another two charges taken into consideration.

The court heard that Chua was an undergraduate at the time of the offences in May and June last year. He graduated in June this year.

Chua broke COVID-19 regulations by meeting three friends during the "circuit breaker" period, when social gatherings were prohibited. His co-accused are: 26-year-old Shu Shao Qiang, 26-year-old Jarren Ng Yong Jie and 27-year-old Phan Chang Rong.

On May 14, 2020, Chua went to Koufu at Woodlands Mart with Ng to buy drinks. Ng later arranged to meet Phan at a stairwell to smoke. Chat logs showed the pair arranging to meet, with Phan asking Ng to help him buy a drink.

At about 9.40pm that night, Chua, Ng and Phan met at the stairwell, where they smoked cigarettes and chatted for about 30 minutes without their masks on.

The trio met again three days later at a staircase to smoke and chat.

On a separate occasion on May 27 last year, Chua sent Phan a text, asking if the latter wanted to meet for a smoke. In his message, Chua also asked Phan to go out to exercise, and said he would cycle there.

At the time, exercise was one of the few activities considered "essential" and that people could leave their homes for. However, Phan said he did not want to, and Chua wound up meeting Shu to smoke.

Chua met Shu again to socialise and smoke on Jun 8, 2020. At this point, Chua had exhibited symptoms of COVID-19 and had gone to a doctor. He was informed later that day that he had tested positive for COVID-19.

DELETING CHATLOGS

During the initial contact tracing process, Chua did not tell the officer that he had met his three friends.

That same morning that he found out he had COVID-19, Chua called Shu to tell him about his diagnosis. He asked Shu to delete their WhatsApp chatlog, as it would be evidence they had met each other during the circuit breaker period.

They discussed how they would get into trouble if they were found to be linked, and came up with various scenarios to explain their meetings. They agreed they would say they had "bumped" into each other at a food court, where they had a chat.

Chua then called Ng and told him the same thing, and Ng deleted the messages in which they agreed to meet up. Chua asked Ng to tell Phan to delete his chats as well, but Phan did not do so.

Chua finally got through to Phan and asked him to delete the messages. Phan asked him why he had to do so, and Chua said the messages would be evidence of them meeting up to smoke. Phan brushed him off, the court heard.

CHUA CONFESSES IN A LETTER TO THE HEALTH MINISTER

On Jul 20, 2020, more than a month after being diagnosed with COVID-19, Chua wrote a letter to the health minister. He confessed that he had met Shu, Ng and Phan on multiple occasions during the circuit breaker period.

In his letter, he admitted knowingly withholding information crucial to contact tracing and obstructing those efforts.

He also admitted meeting his three friends under the pretext of buying groceries, breaching COVID-19 regulations, endangering the lives of others and planning a coordinated response in case authorities had closed-circuit television footage of them gathering.

After he sent the letter, Shu, Ng and Phan were contacted by the authorities. They were taken to court and fined between S$3,500 and S$10,000 for their involvement.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Joshua Lim on Monday asked for six to eight weeks' jail and a fine of S$17,000 for Chua.

He said the nature of the activities that Chua met his friends for - smoking and chatting - was frivolous. Chua had acted with "reckless disregard" and took actions to conceal his breach, he said.

Even though Chua eventually confessed what he did in his letter to the minister, this was more than a month after his diagnosis, said Mr Lim.

UTTERLY REMORSEFUL: ACCUSED

In mitigation, Chua, who was not represented by a lawyer, said he was "utterly remorseful" for his actions.

"I am trying to seek a fine-only sentence and not imprisonment," he said. "This is because I have just graduated from NTU recently this June and I have found a job, which I am starting next week."

He added that this was his first brush with the law and acknowledged that his ignorance made him "naive of the severity of my mistakes".

"Since recovering from COVID, I have dutifully followed the rules set out by the authorities and have been studiously trying to complete my degree," said Chua. 

He added that he was "deeply shocked" to hear the prosecutor ask for a jail term. He said a jail term would negate his months of job hunting and his long-term employability, and that his parents were both retired and would be severely affected by his sentence.

The judge said Chua showed a "blatant disregard for public safety and the nationwide efforts to curb the pandemic". However, she took into account his mitigation plea and personal circumstances.