Singapore returns to phase two

Everything you need to know about the new COVID-19 restriction status is here.

On May 4, 2021, Multi-Ministry Task Force co-chair Lawrence Wong announced that Singapore will return to phase two status starting May 8, 2021, to May 30, 2021, due to the emergence of a case cluster at Tan Tock Seng which is said to be associated with the new COVID variant from India. The new Indian variant strain is proven to be more transmissible with higher attack rates which are causing large case clusters in the community.

Social gatherings

People in Singapore are now only allowed to gather in groups of five and have five visitors in the household. This is down from the current limit of eight people allowed in social gatherings.

Individuals are also still advised to have no more than two gatherings each day.

Workplace

The government has recommended that employers allow their employees to work from home as much as possible and with the implementation of the new rules, there should be no more than 50 percent of the employees at the workplace at any time. This is down from the previous limit of 75 percent of employees.

Indoor exercise facilities and classes

Exercise facilities and classes conducted indoors will be closed because such places are considered as a hotspot for transmissions and can cause case clusters due to the proximity of the people inside and more likely than not, remove their face masks when engaging in physical activities.

However, outdoor physical activities can continue but with a limit of only 30 participants. Participants have to be formed in groups of up to five, with each group separated by more than three metres.

Certain malls and attractions will have to limit their capacity

Between May 1, 2021, to May 14, 2021 malls and large standalone malls will have to reduce their capacity to one person per ten square metres of the gross floor area. Tourist attractions around Singapore will also be affected from May 7, 2021, to May 14, 2021. All attractions that are currently approved by the government to operate at 65 percent of their capacity will have to reduce this to 50 percent.

Reduction of several event sizes

Live performances

Only 250 attendees are allowed which is down from the previous rule of 750. Pre-event testing will be required for all attendees of these events if there are more than 100 attendees.

Weddings

The maximum cap of attendees for a wedding will be 250 with pre-event testing. Without pre-event testing, a stricter cap will be applied with a maximum of 50 attendees.

Funerals

On the day of the burial or cremation, the event will be limited to no more than thirty attendees which are down from fifty attendees. And for the days of the week, it remains at thirty attendees at any one time.

Sporting events

All mass participation and spectator sports will be suspended.

Tracetogether-only Safe Entry

Tracetogether-only Safe Entry which is an application that will be used every time you enter a public venue with a high number of visitors was originally planned to be implemented on June 1, 2021, but will now be implemented at an earlier date which is May 17, 2021. Scanning of SE-QR codes with the phone camera and Singpass App will be discontinued.

It has been stressed in the briefing that the return to phase two will not be considered as a circuit breaker, or the government’s term for partial lockdown and explained the qualitative difference in the assessment of the situation in comparison to the year prior stating that Singapore has far better testing, contact-tracing capabilities now compared with last year.