Sri Lankan man tested positive for COVID-19 while awaiting repatriation after 4-week sentence for overstaying
SINGAPORE: A Sri Lankan man who tested positive for COVID-19 while in Singapore Prison Service's (SPS) custody was awaiting repatriation after serving a four-week sentence for overstaying in Singapore, authorities said on Tuesday (Aug 4).
The 26-year-old man was reported as a COVID-19 case in the Ministry of Health's (MOH) daily update on Monday. He tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, was asymptomatic and not linked to other cases, MOH said.
In response to queries from CNA, the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and SPS in a media statement on Tuesday detailed the chain of events from the time of the man's arrival in Singapore to his positive COVID-19 diagnosis.
The man, identified by MOH as Case 53086, arrived in Singapore Jan 2 on a short-term visit pass.
On Jun 30, he was arrested by ICA for overstaying or remaining in Singapore without a valid pass.
He was remanded at Changi Prison Complex on Jul 1 and subsequently sentenced on Jul 6 to four weeks’ imprisonment.
As part of SPS' screening of inmates, the man tested negative for COVID-19 for his entry swab on Jul 2 and his exit swab on Jul 22. Upon his admission, he was also placed into mandatory 14-day cohort segregation for all new admissions.