Singapore NULLIFIES man’s passport for violating self-quarantine order amid Covid-19 outbreak
A man in Singapore has been stripped of his ability to leave the country, after the government canceled his passport as punishment for allegedly breaching a stay-at-home notice. The country has seen three Covid-19-related deaths.
The 53-year-old man had been ordered to self-isolate after returning from a trip to Batam, Indonesia on March 19, according to media reports. The country’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) claims that the individual flouted the 14-day restriction, opting instead to make another trip to Indonesia.
As punishment, the ICA announced in a statement that it had canceled the man’s passport and would refer his case to the Health Ministry for further investigation.
The punitive measures come just days after Singapore instituted strict new laws to combat the spread of Covid-19. Singaporeans who fail to maintain a distance of one meter from other people in “non-transient” public interactions can be fined up to 10,000 Singapore dollars ($6,985) and even risk a six-month jail sentence.
Singapore reported its third coronavirus-related death on Sunday. All three cases involved elderly individuals with pre-existing conditions. There are 800 confirmed cases of the virus nationwide.
The island city-state off southern Malaysia is not alone in adopting draconian measures to fight coronavirus. In Europe and elsewhere, fines and the threat of jail time are being used to penalize citizens for not obeying lockdown protocols.
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