• F&B places, hair salons and gyms said that the Covid-19 self-testing regime has been going well with few hiccups
• Under a mandatory scheme, employees in higher-risk settings have to carry out rostered routine resting every 14 days
• Businesses said some employees found the self-swab uncomfortable initially but knew that it was a necessary safety precaution

SINGAPORE — On the dot of 10am every day, supervisors from Shunji Matsuo’s four hair salons islandwide begin their routine of video-calling some of their 70 employees one by one.

The reason: To watch as the staff members self-administer the Covid-19 antigen rapid test from home during their weekly off days.

This is part of a mandatory fast and easy testing (FET) regime for staff members working in higher-risk settings that began on Thursday (July 15) and it got off to a smooth start, judging by several interviews TODAY conducted with affected businesses.

Although it was not required, Shunji Matsuo started doing the tests last Sunday.

In an announcement on June 10, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said that higher-risk settings include dine-in food-and-beverage (F&B) outlets, gyms and fitness studios where people are unmasked, and personal care services such as massage parlours.

As part of this regime, the Government will be subsidising the supervisor training programmes and antigen rapid test kits for the next three months.

Employees in these sectors will have to carry out rostered routine resting every 14 days either through employer-supervised self-swab where trained supervisors will guide their colleagues in self-testing or by visiting Quick Test Centres along Tekka Lane and Yishun Centre. More of such centres will be set up in due course.

Shunji Matsuo director Tay Tat Sin, 39, said that the salons had received the rapid test kits last week and that more than 50 of its employees had already been tested.

Mr Tay said that eight managers and senior staff members from the salons had gone through an antigen rapid test self-swab training course conducted by HMI Institute, a healthcare training provider, in the first week of July and they trained employees to conduct the tests themselves afterwards.

Each supervisor guides three to eight employees daily in doing the rapid test virtually, taking around 15 to 20 minutes for each employee.

While this is a tedious process, Mr Tay said that it was something that had to be done.

“Everyone has a part to play to control the pandemic and keep our working environment safe,” he said.

Shunji Matsuo hairstylist Lai Mei Jen, 50, said that the do-it-yourself nasal swab test is an uncomfortable process, but it was necessary in order to protect customers.

“Even though we feel fearful (having to swab ourselves) we have to overcome it. We serve more than 10 people every day so there’s a lot of contact between us. Every employee has to bear the responsibility of keeping customers safe,” Ms Lai said.

F&B SECTOR

Restaurants and fast-food chains interviewed said that the process of self-testing for employees had been off to a good start.

In response to TODAY’s queries, fast-food chain Burger King said that the implementation process was “relatively smooth and simple” apart from some employees who felt “slightly uncomfortable” because it was their first self-swab.

However, with time, employees would likely get used to it and make it a part of their everyday lives, Burger King said, adding that 220 staff members had been tested as of Thursday.

“Just like the TraceTogether initiatives that were implemented a few months back, once our staff get used to the process, it should be fine.”

Creative Eateries group — which owns F&B brands such as Siam Kitchen, Eat At Taipei and Suki-ya — said that the self-swab process was daunting at first because most employees had not done it before, so they produced videos to “show all the employees that it could be done”.

 Ms Bernadette Giam, the group’s director of corporate affairs and human resources, said: "This was a source of encouragement for anyone who was undergoing their first self-swab.”

Mr Anthony Tan, 30, assistant manager of Italian eatery Dopo Teatro, part of the Creative Eateries group, thought that the self-test was going to be complicated initially, but he found it straightforward after trying it.

He welcomed the mandatory testing and said that it was good because the restaurant workers face many people in a day.

“It gives us a greater assurance that we are well enough to be out and about serving our guests. We hope it can assure our guests as well to dine at our restaurant.” 

GYM AND FITNESS STUDIOS

Four gyms approached by TODAY said that the process has been going well for them, with few teething issues. They agreed that the mandatory testing scheme was necessary as a safety measure.

Mr Jakson To, 46, owner of fitness gyms F45 Downtown East and Tampines West, said that self-administering the antigen rapid tests was generally a smooth process for gym employees.

“The employees were very cooperative, they understood that this was a must-do to make the studio relatively safe,” Mr To said, adding that 13 out of 18 employees from the two gyms had been tested.

Platinum Fitness owner Marc Torel, 29, said that they had collected the first batch of tests last week and had already tested five employees. The gym aims to finish testing all employees by next week.

The employees who have been tested managed to complete their test “seamlessly”, Mr Torel said. “They commented that it was a fast and easy process to complete.”

24XFitness and True Group — which consists of True Fitness, TFX and GFX gyms — said that there had been no issues so far.

Both businesses said that employees were shown guide videos before the swab test, which aided the process. Mr Andrew Lan, area business manager of True Group, described the test as “seamless”.

Strength Avenue's trainer Daphne Loo, 38, said that the self-swab tests would give the coaches confidence that they were safe.

“We feel it will give our clients some security, too, knowing that their coaches are being tested fortnightly.” 

National sports governing agency Sport Singapore told TODAY that it had identified premises including ActiveSG sport centres, fitness studios and gyms as well as other private sport establishments for the testing regime. 

Three quick-test centres in Bishan, Jurong West and Pasir Ris have tested around 1,400 self-employed persons, the agency said in a statement on July 19. More than 600 firms have also submitted requests for antigen rapid test test kits for about 22,000 employees.

TODAY has also reached out to the Health Promotion Board for the number of self-test kits distributed to other businesses in higher-risk settings so far.