Places of worship, bars, cultural venues will have to ‘convince’ authorities of robust safety plans before reopening, says Gan Kim Yong

SINGAPORE — Places of worship, cultural venues and public entertainment establishments such as nightclubs and bars will have to “convince” the authorities with robust safety plans before they will be allowed to resume operations, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said in Parliament on Thursday (June 4).

He was answering a question from Members of Parliament (MPs) Chong Kee Hiong and Lim Biow Chuan on whether the Health Ministry would consider allowing food and beverage outlets to start taking in dine-in customers, considering the low Covid-19 infection rates within the community presently.

Mr Gan noted that as Singapore exits the circuit breaker, the Government plans to allow gatherings of up to five people in the second phase of reopening, which National Development Minister Lawrence Wong has said could begin before the end of June.

But Mr Gan added: “However, to ensure that we do not undo the efforts of the circuit breaker period, we will continue to adopt a more cautious approach for higher-risk activities, such as those involving large numbers of people interacting with one another in enclosed spaces for prolonged periods of time.”

These include religious services, cultural venues such as arts performances, cinemas, museums and libraries, as well as nightclubs and bars, karaoke outlets and other public entertainment establishments, he said.

“Organisers of these activities and business owners would need to convince relevant agencies that they have robust plans to ensure safety, before we let them open.”

The Government has said that it will be engaging businesses and organisations behind such higher-risk activities on how and when they may resume safely, with the necessary safe management measures and safeguards, in Phase Two.

Mr Gan noted on Thursday that such settings can seed large clusters of Covid-19 transmission.

At least 255 cases were linked to a nightclub cluster in South Korea’s Itaewon entertainment district in early May, he said. In Singapore, there was a cluster at Hero’s Bar, a sports bar located at 69 Circular Road, which emerged on March 30 and involved nine patients.

Mr Gan reiterated that dine-in services – along with retail, personal, health and wellness, and home-based services – will only be able to resume in Phase Two of the economy’s reopening after the circuit breaker.

Their resumption will be subjected to safe management measures being in place, he added. 

“Some may start earlier, others may need a bit more time to put in place the necessary safeguards.”

He also said that Singapore is currently at a “safe opening phase” that is “likely to be very restrictive” to avoid any big clusters that would force the Government to close the economy again, which would then slow down the start of Phase Two.

“We prefer to keep Phase One safe, so that we can open Phase Two safely, and hopefully faster, rather than to delay further because cases re-emerge,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Murali Pillai, MP for Bukit Batok, asked how long it would take for a proactive screening of Covid-19 infection among migrant workers in dormitories to complete, and if its pace would affect how soon phases two and three would kick in.

Mr Gan said the proactive screening of workers may take up to August or September, but he noted that the Government is taking a “systematic” approach to identify workers who are clear of the virus so that they can start work first.

“We want to make sure that those who are able to start work are safe in the community, and that would allow us to continue that process of reopening our economy, to remain safe in Phase One, and then proceed to Phase Two,” he said.