SINGAPORE - A Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight steward came down with Covid-19 after a work flight and was ordered to be isolated in a room at D’Resort @ Downtown East in Pasir Ris.

Fabian Amos Gilbert, who still tested positive for Covid-19 on April 16, 2020, crept out of D’Resort in the wee hours two days later. He went to a nearby beach and returned to the facility at around 5pm.

The court heard that he did not interact with anybody when he was at the beach.

Fabian, 30, pleaded guilty on Monday to an offence under the Infectious Diseases Act and is expected to be sentenced on Wednesday.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Sunil Nair said Fabian had a sore throat, fever and runny nose after he arrived in Singapore from London on March 18, 2020.

He went to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital for a swab test and was admitted after he was found to be Covid-19-positive the next day.

He was later issued an isolation order to be detained and isolated in a room at D’Resort for about a month. He shared a room with a 24-year-old man.

In the early hours of April 18, 2020, Fabian could not sleep and decided to leave D’Resort without permission, in breach of the order.

Closed-circuit television footage shows him leaving his room at 2.55am. He then walked to a fence that separated D’Resort from Pasir Ris Park.

DPP Nair said: “At about 2.58am, the accused stepped on a fire hydrant near the fence and climbed over the fence into Pasir Ris Park.”

Fabian, who was not wearing a mask, had a thermometer with him in anticipation of the twice-daily phone call to check on his temperature.

At around 3am, he sent a text message to his roommate saying: “I sneaked out of D’Resort, will be back shortly. Keep it to yourself.”

At around 11am, an officer called Fabian’s mobile phone to ask for his temperature. Fabian took his temperature with the thermometer and informed the officer, without revealing that he was not in his room, said the DPP.

The roommate, who saw Fabian’s text message when he woke up, replied, asking him to return to the facility as soon as possible. Fabian texted back to say he would return at midnight so no one would see him climbing the fence.

Some time after 3pm, the roommate called the D’Resort front desk to inform the staff that Fabian had left the room.

At around 3.45pm, the authorities called Fabian on his mobile phone and told him to return to D’Resort immediately. He reached the facility at 4.50pm.

The DPP told the court: “On the date of the offence, Pasir Ris Park (except for the beach) was accessible to members of the public.

“Beaches in Singapore were not open to the public due to the circuit breaker measures announced on April 11, 2020.

“Fabian’s subsequent swab tests were negative for Covid-19, and he was discharged from D’Resort on April 22, 2020.”

His lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam pleaded for him to be given a fine and/or a community-based sentence, with a short detention order as an option.

Offenders given such an order are put behind bars for a short time but will not have a criminal record.

In an earlier statement, SIA told The Straits Times that it does not comment on confidential staff or legal matters.