Man facing court for SARS quarantine offences

A Singapore man who may have been exposed to the SARS virus will appear in court – on a video screen – to face charges that he broke home quarantine orders, a police spokesman said today.

Chua Hock Seng was being held in a jail cell. Police arrested him late Friday after he went out drinking twice, police spokesman Chua Chee Wai said.

He showed his quarantine order to customers in a coffee shop, sparking panic before he was taken away, The Straits Times newspaper reported.

“He will be charged in court via videophone,” Chua said.

Chua is among more than 3,000 Singapore residents quarantined in their homes because of possible exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome, which has killed at least 25 people and sickened more than 200 in the city-state of four million.

Chua, 50, will charged with breaking quarantine under tough new legislation aimed at curbing the spread of SARS. He could be fined 10,000 Singapore dollars (£3,766) and jailed six months if found guilty.

He has not shown SARS symptoms, but was reportedly quarantined after being in contact with people who had.

Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong called Chua’s actions ”madness,” the newspaper said.

“He’ll be taken care of,” it quoted Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng as saying.

Authorities have repeatedly said they would name – and shame – any quarantine breakers.

Singapore has enacted some of the strictest control measures among SARS-hit countries. People ordered to stay home are sometimes watched by cameras and tagged with electronic wrist bands.