Nigel Skea, 52, faces six months in prison for leaving his room three times on September 21 last year, one of which was to meet Singapore partner Agatha Maghesh Eyamalai, who was not quarantined but booked a room in the same hotel.
Eyamalai, 39, who married Skea in November, pleaded guilty to having been an accomplice. Skea was also not wearing a mask, which is mandatory in Singapore.
The city-state requires that most arrivals go through 14 days of quarantine at hotels designated by the government.
Skea was twice “loitering along the corridor” and went to Eyamalai’s room 13 floors up using a stairway through an emergency exit door, which she had opened for him, according to the charges.
“This is a classic story of two lovers who want to be together and try to be as close as possible to each other, but breaking the law,” the couple’s lawyer, SS Dhillon, told the court.
The sentence is expected to take place on February 26. Quarantine violations imply a fine of up to S $ 10,000 ($ 7,565) or up to six months in prison, or both.
Singapore arrested and fined others for violating COVID-19 rules, while some foreigners also had their work permits revoked.
The coronavirus is largely under control, with less than a handful of new local cases per day, due to strict arrival quarantine, contact tracking and social detachment.