A court in Singapore on Wednesday sentenced a British man to six weeks in jail after he refused to wear a face mask while out in public.
The court found 40-year-old Benjamin Glynn guilty of four charges of failure to wear a mask while on a train in May. The British man was previously found guilty for causing a public nuisance after he used threatening words towards public servants in July.
Violating Mask Laws
On Wednesday, Glynn, who represented himself in court, asked the judges to drop the "unlawful charges," noting that he believed he was exempted from Singapore's laws on masks. He also called on the court to return his passport and documents so he could fly back to Britain, as reported by CNN.
Singapore, which is considered the Asian business hub, is well-known for its strict enforcement of coronavirus rules.
In February, a Singapore court also sentenced another British man to two weeks in jail after it was found that he snuck out of his hotel room three times while undergoing a 14-day mandatory COVID-19 quarantine.
Nigel Skea, 52, was not wearing a mask when he snuck out to meet his Singaporean partner, Agatha Maghesh Eyamalai, 39, who had booked a room in the same hotel but was not subjected to the mandatory quarantine, as reported by Reuters.
The Singaporean Ministry of Health (MOH) on Wednesday recorded 53 new novel coronavirus infections. Of the latest cases, 49 were locally transmitted, while 19 were unlinked infections. The latest figures brought the country's total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 66,334.
"Amongst the cases is one senior above 70 years who is unvaccinated, and is at risk of serious illness," the MOH added, according to Yahoo News.
COVID Situation in Singapore
Singaporean health officials also recorded one new death, bringing the country's total number of coronavirus-related deaths to 46, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The latest death involved a 64-year-old Singaporean man who had not received a COVID-19 vaccine. The man, whose identity was not revealed by authorities, developed a cough on Aug. 2 and was admitted to Raffles Hospital after suffering heart problems the day after.
The man, who had underlying conditions, including end-stage renal failure, ischaemic cardiomyopathy, hypertension and hyperlipidaemia, died Monday, Aug. 16, according to Channel News Asia.
In a separate press release, the MOH said short-term pass holders who have been residing in Singapore for a certain period may be eligible to receive free COVID-19 vaccine jabs under the nation's vaccination program.
Having said that, the people who receive the vaccine shots would not be eligible for Singapore's COVID-19 vaccine injury financial assistance program. Additionally, short-term pass holders who incur any medical bills following the vaccination would be subjected to the prevailing charging policies.
Short-term pass holders include short-term work pass and special pass holders, as well as those who have been in Singapore for at least two months because they were unable to return home due to global travel restrictions.
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