Teenage girl arrested for faking positive COVID-19 test results to skip work

JOHOR BAHRU: A 19-year-old waitress was arrested by police yesterday after she submitted fake COVID-19 test results to avoid going to work.

Iskandar Puteri district police chief ACP Dzulkhairi Mukhtar said the girl was picked up at about 1 pm at a house in Mutiara Rini, Skudai here following a police report lodged by her 32-year-old employer.

He said the employer claimed the girl sent him a letter via WhatsApp showing that she was COVID-19 positive and could not turn up for work.

“Immediately after receiving the message, the employer closed his restaurant and went to a clinic together with 12 other workers to take the COVID-19 swab test. The tests confirmed that all were negative for COVID-19,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Dzulkhairi said upon questioning by the employer, the girl admitted to deceiving him because she was not comfortable being a waitress and did not feel like going to work.

“According to the employer, the girl just started working at the restaurant on Monday,” he said.

The case is being investigated under Section 420/468 of the Penal Code for falsifying COVID-19 swab test results and the police will seek to remand the girl tomorrow for further investigation.

-- BERNAMA