Senior citizen with pink wristband did not violate COVID quarantine - police

ALOR GAJAH, Jan 24  -- Police have confirmed that a senior citizen who allegedly violated a quarantine order had in fact ran out of petrol enroute to Alor Gajah Hospital (HAG) to remove the COVID-19 pink wristband.

The man, wearing the quarantine wristband, had been photographed and it had gone viral on WhatsApp and Facebook.

Alor Gajah district police chief Supt Arshad Abu said when the 69-year-old ran out of petrol he had to refuel at a petrol station in Masjid Tanah at about 9.54 am yesterday. This was when an image of him was captured and it went viral.

The police chief said initial investigation found the victim was ordered to undergo quarantine at his house in Pengkalan Balak from Jan 13 until yesterday.

He said the man stopped at Masjid Tanah Petron, which was the first one he found on the way.

"Based on investigations, the man said he was on his way with his wife and daughter to HAG to remove the pink wristband," he said in a statement here today.

According to Arshad, the victim only realised that a photograph of him at the petrol station had been viralled today after being informed by his son. The man then lodged a report at the Masjid Tanah police station at about 1 pm today.

He added that the victim made the report in order to reveal the real situation and asked the individual who circulated the image to delete it from social media. He also asked netizens to stop transmitting the image.

--BERNAMA