The multi-ministry task force announced that Singapore may enter Phase 3 of reopening by the end of 2020. However, this will only happen if community cases remain low.
And to ensure this, Singaporeans will need to continue observing safe management measures, which includes safe distancing and gatherings of no more than five people.
Separately, the government will be carrying out testing on larger scale so that more activities will be able to resume. For example, there will be a pilot scheme where participants of mass events have to be tested for Covid-19 before they are allowed to attend.
According to Ministry of Health (MOH), the rapid test results could be out within 30 minutes, and these tests can be done at the venue or a separate testing facility. For the latter, participants have to show certificate to certify a negative test result, which is valid for a 24-hour timeframe, including the duration of the event. However, as rapid tests have lower accuracy and could result in false positives, safe management measures should still be in place.
Apart from this, by end December, more venues will require people to check in using the TraceTogether app or tokens. This means, you won’t be able to enter those venues by scanning your NRIC or the SafeEntry QR code, or through the SingPass mobile app.
Here are other things to expect during Phase 3.
Have trouble including your whole clique of friends during your bi-annual meet-ups with the current restriction of five per group? Come Phase 3, you’ll be able to meet seven of your friends at the same time as the number of people for social gatherings is set to increase to eight.
Similarly, you can have more visitors at home, as the number of guests you can have in a day increases to eight. This allows larger families to meet.
The number of guests at weddings you can have during Phase 3 might also increase from 100 guests (as of October 3) to 50 per zone.
Venues that currently have limited capacity will also be allowed to have more people, as multiple zones of 50 people will be allowed in museums and places of worship.
Still itching to go clubbing? You won’t be able to do it any time soon, as bars, karaoke lounges and nightclubs are likely to not be allowed to operate just yet as they are deemed as higher risk.