Over 6,600 fines have been issued to people who broke rules meant to keep people here safe from Covid-19, said the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) on Friday.
Since the start of the outbreak, the authorities have taken various steps to tackle the virus.
Between Feb 1 and 29, about 3,460,000 surgical masks, provided by the Government, were distributed by the People’s Association to households through collection centres at community centres and residents’ committee centres. Three more mask distribution exercises followed, with households collecting over 9,950,000 reusable masks from the Temasek Foundation and the Government as of Thursday.
Another measure taken was placing those at a higher risk of infection, such as travellers entering Singapore, under a stay-home notice.
As of Thursday, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority had issued more than 89,000 such notices. About 9,000 of them remained active as of Thursday.
But many have chosen to flout the measures put in place to keep the virus at bay. The ministry said that as of June 25, more than 1,100 fines for offences related to mask-wearing and more than 5,500 fines for the breaching of safe distancing measures had been issued.
The Ministry of Manpower also said that between May 1 and June 25, it had revoked the work passes of 140 people for breaching circuit breaker measures, stay-home notices or quarantine orders.
Of these, 42 work pass holders were caught outside their residences while under stay-home notices or quarantine orders.
The remaining 98 people were found eating, drinking and gathering in groups in public during the circuit breaker, at various locations such as dormitories, East Coast Park and Robertson Quay. Six of them were permanently banned from working in Singapore as a result.
On Friday, lawyer Gino Hardial Singh told The Sunday Times that the penalties might seem harsh, but were necessary. “The security and safety of the people in Singapore are of paramount importance, given the virulent outbreak of the pandemic.
“Their actions could have potentially endangered the lives of many. These people have essentially disregarded the rules in favour of their own personal pursuits, thereby putting many more at risk,” he said, adding that the penalties would serve as a deterrent to others.
Original article source:
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/over-6600-fines-issued-for-flouting-covid-19-rules