Settings where people are unmasked for prolonged periods of time will be disallowed from this Sunday, 16 May 2021, to 13 June 2021. Working-from-home will also be the default during this period.
The settings include places such as restaurants, food courts and hawker centres.
The Multi-Ministry Taskforce (MTF) made the announcement on 14 May 2021.
This comes after there have been 15 unlinked cases in the community over the past week.
MTF Co-Chair Gan Kim Yong said: “We are in a state of heightened alert; I would urge everyone to be vigilant and minimise unnecessary social interactions.
“We need to act decisively to disrupt the virus transmission. We will therefore further tighten safe management measures in the community.”
Meanwhile, the Government will increase the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) support rate for F&B establishments to 50 per cent of the first $4,600 of gross monthly wages paid to local employees during this period.
This is a substantial increase from the 10 per cent support for wages paid up to June 2021.
The Government will waive the rental fees for hawker stall and coffeeshop tenants of Government agencies for one month.
The Government urges commercial landlords to support their F&B tenants through this period.
Minimising Workplace Interactions
Employers must ensure that employees who are able to work from home continue to do so.
There should be no cross-deployment of workers to multiple worksites, and employers should continue to stagger start times of employees who need to return to the workplace, and also implement flexible working hours.
Social gatherings at the workplace will not be allowed.
Employees may have meal breaks at their workplace, but must refrain from intermingling with their colleagues, especially when their masks are taken off.
Permissible Group Sizes
Current permissible group sizes will be further reduced from five persons, down to two persons.
The limit of five distinct visitors per household per day will also be brought down to two.
Everyone should continue to limit their overall number of social gatherings to not more than two per day. This includes visits to other households, and meetings with friends and family members in public places.
To allow families’ childcare arrangements to continue, grandparents caring for grandchildren daily will not be counted towards their number of social gatherings per day.
Cessation of Indoor “Mask-Off” Activities
Dining-in at F&B establishments, be it indoor or outdoor, will cease from 16 May 2021.
These establishments, including hawker centres and food courts, will only be able to offer takeaway and delivery options.
Event Sizes and Pre-Event Testing
Event sizes will also be scaled down during this period.
Pre-event testing (PET) remains an essential measure before events can proceed. More details on PET can be found on the Ministry of Health’s website.
