The Government is recalibrating its re-opening plans as Singapore is seeing a small and persistent number of unlinked cases that can potentially become larger clusters.
From 21 June 2021, dining-in at F&B establishments, and indoor mask-off exercises will only be allowed to resume in group sizes of up to two persons, instead of up to five persons as previously announced.
Classes at gyms and fitness centres will be limited to 30 people. Wedding receptions will also continue to be barred.
The Multi-Ministry Taskforce (MTF) made the announcement on 18 June 2021.
The Government will allow such activities to increase to group sizes of up to 5 persons from mid-July 2021 if there is no superspreader event or big cluster, said the taskforce.
“Regrettably, we are unable to proceed with our second stage of reopening in light of the latest outbreaks and big cluster that we have discovered in Bukit Merah, and now we have to adjust our plans … As we resume activities from 21 June, cases are bound to go up. We have to expect that and be mentally prepared for this.
“We’ve already implemented more extensive quarantine of people but there is a wider ring. They’re not close contacts but may have some possible exposures to the virus,” said MTF co-chair Lawrence Wong, referring to recent unlinked cases.
To support businesses until mid-July 2021, the Government will extend the current enhancements to the Jobs Support Scheme for affected sectors by three weeks, starting from 21 June 2021, before tapering it down from 50 per cent to 10 per cent for another two weeks.
The Government will also extend the COVID-19 Recovery Grant (Temporary) [CRG-T] to affected workers until 31 July 2021.
Existing CRG-T recipients who continue to require assistance can also apply for the second tranche of CRG-T support in July.
Meanwhile, the regular 14-day Fast and Easy Tests (FET) requirement for workers at settings where patrons are unmasked such as restaurants, hairdressers, and gyms will be made mandatory from mid-July.
The Government expects that most FETs can be done through a system of self-swabs supervised by the employer.
Mr Wong added that the Government will make test kits available to these establishments in the next three months.
“We want to get the process started. That is why agencies will be reaching out to establishments in higher-risk settings. If the need arises, we can up the frequency [of tests], but we want to get the system in place progressively,” he said.
For small businesses who are unable to organise the supervised self-swabs on their own, the Government will set up Quick Test Centres (QTCs) to support workers who need to be tested.
The first QTCs will be at Tekka and Yishun and will be operational from 21 June 2021. More QTCs will be progressively set up, said the taskforce.
