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A 46-year-old woman was on Wednesday charged in a Singapore district court with sneezing in another woman’s direction at the entrance of the Ion Orchard shopping centre and shouting “shut up” at her.

Sun Szu-Yen, a Taiwanese national, is accused of causing harassment to Devika Rani Muthu Krishna at about 4.45pm on April 12, South China Morning Post reports.

On Wednesday, she told the court through an interpreter that she would like to claim trial to her charges, but would not hire a lawyer as she could defend herself.

Sun will return to court on April 29 and remains out on bail. If convicted of causing harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act, she could be jailed up to six months, fined up to S$5,000 or both.

Committing a rash act endangering the personal safety of others carries a similar punishment.

More than 2,000 people have been caught breaching safe-distancing rules since the partial lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19 in Singapore kicked in on April 7, according to authorities, with more than 500 seen not wearing masks outside their homes.

The penalty for breaching social-distancing measures is a fine of up to S$10,000 (US$7,000) and/or a six-month jail term.

Wearing a mask was also made compulsory on April 14, with a S$300 fine for first-time offenders who do not wear one and S$1,000 for repeat offences.