SINGAPORE — When questioned by a health officer doing contact tracing on her previous whereabouts with her husband who tested positive for Covid-19, a woman from China allegedly said they had taken a blue taxi from their home to the hospital.

However, when records from the ride hitching platform Grab were produced via the Land Transport Authority (LTA), they showed that the couple had taken a Grab car from a hotel instead.

This was revealed on Monday afternoon (Aug 17) when contact tracer Georgina Lim from the Ministry of Health (MOH) took the stand in the trial of China nationals Hu Jun and Shi Sha.

Further Grab records painted a picture of where the couple had gone and these were contrary to what they had claimed, Ms Lim's testimony revealed.

Wuhan native Hu, 38, had been tested positive for Covid-19 on Jan 31, and contact tracing commenced to determine where he had gone and who he had been in contact with.

Hu is contesting one charge of hindering a health officer by deliberately withholding information on his whereabouts and activities. 

His wife Shi, 36, faces four charges under the Infectious Diseases Act for withholding information, giving false information and failing to respond fully and truthfully to a health officer.

HEALTH OFFICER TRIED TO FILL IN GAPS ON WHERE COUPLE WENT

Ms Lim, the second witness for the prosecution, said she was tasked with filling in the gaps for the couple's activities before Hu went to the Singapore General Hospital and was confirmed to have the coronavirus.

The information gaps included the identity of the taxi driver who had driven the couple from Changi Airport to their home at The Loft@Nathan Road, according to Hu's account of events.

Ms Lim, a senior public health officer at MOH, called Shi several times to question her on the whereabouts of the couple for contact tracing.

Shi, who was initially reticent as she was "worried" that Ms Lim would reveal information to the media, became more forthcoming only when Ms Lim told her that the information she sought was being collected under Singapore's laws and would not be revealed to the media.

Hu had arrived in Singapore on Jan 22, and purportedly told health officials that his wife had driven him from Changi Airport to their home.

However, Ms Lim said Shi told her that they did not own a family car. To verify this, she asked Shi how they got home from the airport, and Shi said they queued for a taxi at the airport and boarded a cab.

As Ms Lim needed to identify the driver, she asked for the taxi company and the receipt, but Shi said she did not have one and could not recall the company's name. When Ms Lim asked what the colour of the cab was, she said it was not blue, but could not remember if it was white or silver.

When asked if the couple had gone home or to another friend's unit at The Loft@Nathan, Shi said they had gone home and stayed there.

As the period in question included the long weekend coinciding with Chinese New Year, Ms Lim asked if the couple had gone out for reunion dinner on Jan 24, which was the eve of the holiday.

Shi said they did not, as her husband was sick, and said they also did not leave the house for any Chinese New Year visiting either.

She said the only time Hu went out was on Jan 24, when he went for a walk alone. 

When asked how they had gone to the hospital on Jan 29, Shi said the couple had flagged a blue taxi from their home at Nathan Road to SGH, Ms Lim testified.

Health officials had tried identifying a match for the said blue taxi using closed-circuit television records and with LTA's help, but the attempts were unsuccessful.

GRAB RECORDS REVEALED DIFFERENT PATHS

"We handed Shi Sha's phone number to LTA to do a search through the private-hire companies, to see if she had actually booked a taxi through the mobile application, and that's where LTA came back with Grab screening records from Shi Sha's phone number, where it showed they took a Grab from Studio M Hotel, which was not near Nathan Road, and alighted at SGH," said Ms Lim.

Further Grab records showed that Shi went to Long Beach Seafood in Stevens Road the day her husband landed in Singapore, before taking another Grab to Marina One Residences later that day.

Grab records also showed that Shi took a vehicle to the Chinese embassy on Jan 24, before going to Ngee Ann City and the InterContinental Singapore Hotel.

This ran contrary to Shi's statement that she and her husband had not gone out for reunion dinner that day, as her husband was sick. She said they had both isolated themselves from their parents and children.

After receiving the Grab records, Ms Lim told Shi that she "had to be truthful".

"I didn't specifically tell her about the Grab screening, but I did tell her we have other records and they show otherwise," she said.

The trial resumes on Tuesday with the defence cross-examining Ms Lim. Another 11 witnesses are lined up for the prosecution.

DEFENCE'S CROSS EXAMINATION OF FIRST PROSECUTION WITNESS

Lawyer Dhanwant Singh had earlier cross-examined the first prosecution witness, epidemiologist Yang Yong, who conducted contact tracing on Hu.

Mr Singh said Hu had been feeling "very cold and sleepy" and was having a fever when he spoke to Mr Yang.

He also said Hu had told Mr Yang in Mandarin that his wife had wanted a car but did not drive one to the airport to pick him up. Mr Singh had earlier alleged possible misinterpretation in their communications.

"His wife doesn't have a car or a driving licence. So he could not possibly have said his wife drove a car," said the lawyer. 

Mr Yang said he could not remember this and that the information he took from Hu was accurate as of that day.

If convicted of the offences, both husband and wife face penalties of up to six months' jail, a maximum S$10,000 fine or both, for each charge. CNA

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