Wholesale business owner who went to work despite COVID-19 jailed

SINGAPORE: A wholesale business owner who went to work despite testing positive for COVID 19 was jailed on Tuesday October 4, Wang Shaowei, 38, left his place of isolation on 15 occasions for his business, including collecting order forms and visiting a car park in Ubi, which served as a vegetable wholesale centre.

He pleaded guilty to one charge of leaving his place of isolation without permission from authorities. Another 14 charges of a similar nature were considered for his sentencing.

The Singaporean was the sole owner of a wholesale trading business dealing with goods such as beverages, fruits and vegetables.

Wang would often visit the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre to pack food that would be loaded onto lorries for delivery to clients.

In September last year a large number of COVID 19 cases were detected at the centre, which resulted in its closure for three days for cleaning and disinfection.

As a part of his business, Wang was forced to take a polymerase chain reaction PCR test on Sep 29 last year. He was informed the next day that he had a positive test for COVID - 19.