Woman Jailed For Two Weeks For Lying She Had Covid

A clerk was on Friday jailed for two weeks for lying to the authorities that she had Covid-19, because she wanted to take a sick day.

The 25-year-old pleaded guilty to providing false information at West Kowloon Magistracy.

The court heard she uploaded a picture of a positive rapid antigen test in March, but she subsequently tested negative on a spot check by the Health Department.

In mitigation, the defendant told the court she was afraid of being sent into an isolation facility, so she claimed after testing negative that she never uploaded the picture in the first place.

In sentencing, magistrate Jeffrey Sze said she clearly had a plan to commit the offence, as it takes a number of steps to upload all the required information.

He said even though the case wasn't the most serious of its kind, a deterrent sentence was needed.