Dining-in at F&B establishments will be suspended and group sizes for social gatherings will be reduced from five to two, as Singapore returns to Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) to stem a surge in Covid-19 community cases.
The tightened measures will kick in from Thursday (July 22) until August 18 and will supersede those that were introduced on July 19, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in a press release. It added that a review of the measures will be done two weeks after implementation, and will be adjusted further based on the infection situation at that time.
Both indoor and outdoor dine-in F&B establishments, including hawker centres and food courts, will only be able to offer takeaway and delivery options. The number of distinct visitors per household per day will also be capped at two, from the current five.
The Covid-19 multi-ministerial task force decided not to differentiate the measures for those who are fully vaccinated, but will consider doing so when vaccination rates are higher or when the situation has stabilised, a Channel NewsAsia report quoted task force co-chair Gan Kim Yong as having said during a press conference on Tuesday.
Work-from-home will continue to be the default at workplaces, and employers must ensure that employees who are able to work from home do so, said MOH.
Strenuous indoor exercise classes, or strenuous individual and group indoor sports and exercise activities, will also have to cease.
Event sizes will also be scaled down and event size caps will be reduced “to minimise the likelihood of large cluster formations”, said MOH.
For live performances and MICE events, up to 100 persons may be allowed with pre-event testing, and up to 50 persons without testing. For spectator and participatory sports events, up to 100 persons may be allowed with testing. Testing would not be required if there are 50 persons or less.
Attractions will be required to reduce their operating capacity to 25 per cent from the current 50 per cent. Indoor and outdoor shows may proceed with up to 100 persons with testing, and up to 50 persons without testing.
Museums and public libraries will be allowed to operate at a reduced capacity of 25 per cent.
Cinema halls may accommodate up to 100 persons with testing, and up to 50 persons without testing. The prevailing group size of two applies, and food and beverages may not be sold or consumed in the cinema.
The multi-ministry task force had earlier announced a tightening of community measures under Phase 3 (Heightened Alert) from July 19 to August 8, in response to growing Covid-19 clusters at KTV lounges and nightclubs. Since then, more clusters linked to a wholesale fish market and hawker food centres have emerged.
MOH said that unlike the KTV cluster, the current wave of infection affects a wider spectrum of the population including many seniors.
“At the current rate of transmission, it is likely that infection cases will rise sharply, and many people in the community will catch the virus. While close to 50 per cent of the population have completed their vaccination regimen, there remains a number of vulnerable individuals, such as our seniors, who have yet to take up vaccination,” the ministry said.
“Unvaccinated individuals are at higher risk of being infected, and higher risk of being seriously ill if infected. Hence, in the meantime, we must act decisively to contain the current outbreak and minimise the risk of our hospital capacity being overwhelmed, while we race ahead to vaccinate those who have not completed or started their vaccination.”
According to MOH, Singapore remains on track to having two-thirds of its population complete the vaccination regimen by National Day.
One-third of travel industry experts in Asia-Pacific expect travel to resume to pre-pandemic levels by 2023, according to a new survey by Collinson.
While most travel experts (89 per cent) believe that it is safe to travel, they are pessimistic about the industry’s recovery – whether due to the policies being put in place, wider perceptions of safety, or both. The data highlights that 31 per cent of respondents in Asia-Pacific expect travel to return to pre-pandemic levels by 2023, closely followed by 2024 at 25 per cent, and late 2022 with 17 per cent.
The survey was carried out in April 2021 by Collinson in partnership with Centre for Aviation (CAPA), polling more than 330 C-Suite and senior managerial-level travel experts globally from leading travel industry brands.
Most travel experts in Asia-Pacific surveyed overwhelmingly believe that it is now safe to travel – with 11 per cent saying it is “extremely safe” and 30 per cent saying it is “quite safe”, with a further 48 per cent saying it is “extremely safe provided preventative solutions are adhered to”. However, over half (56 per cent) are “very concerned” at reports of fraudulent Covid-19 test results and vaccination passports.
Global herd immunity is a key driver of the return to normality; and yet, because of public resistance to the vaccine in certain locations, coupled with vaccine inequality – this will take a considerably long time.
When asked what they thought was the most plausible scenario by 2022, 30 per cent of experts in Asia-Pacific believed herd immunity would be reached in the US, the UK and a select few developed nations. By contrast, 27 per cent believed a handful of smaller nations would do so, with the rest of the world including the US and the UK failing to do so. Only 16 per cent believed that most countries in the developed world would achieve herd immunity by next year.
A high number of respondents believed that leisure travel would recover significantly faster than business travel, while in both categories, shorter-haul flights will make a faster comeback.
When asked to select the most plausible scenario in 2022 for the recovery of leisure travel, 27 per cent of respondents in Asia say they expect 41-60 per cent of 2019 levels next year.
Meanwhile, the outlook for business travel markets is weaker than leisure. For short-haul flights, 31 per cent expect to see 41-60 per cent of 2019 levels next year; while 35 per cent of respondents expect longhaul business travel in 2022 will be only 20-40 per cent of 2019 levels.
Most Asia-Pacific respondents (51 per cent) expect that robust testing protocols will remain key to reopening global borders until end of 2022. Almost one-third (32 per cent) of respondents believe robust testing protocols will remain key for the next three years, while just 13 per cent expect testing will be phased out in 2021 in line with the vaccine rollout.
As such, almost half (49 per cent) of Asia-Pacific respondents believe quarantine measures will be phased out by 2022, with a further 11 per cent expecting quarantine measures to be lifted by mid-2021. Yet, 30 per cent still believe quarantine measures will remain in place beyond 2021.
Most Asia-Pacific respondents (58 per cent) expect aviation market access arrangements by governments to evolve at different rates, depending on the region/market through 2021. Over a quarter (27 per cent) expect aviation market access arrangement by governments to “remain the same until at least 2022”, while only five per cent expect access arrangements to “substantially ease” or even just “start to ease” as we go through 2021.
It is, therefore, critical for governments and members of the travel ecosystem to come together and collaborate for the safe return of global travel.
Asia-Pacific respondents overwhelmingly (75 per cent) shared the view that vaccine passports were of “vital importance”, as governments won’t reopen borders without them. Meanwhile, only 18 per cent said they were “not important” as some governments will allow access regardless of digital health documents. A further seven per cent said they were “not relevant” compared to other issues, such as mutual recognition of vaccines.
Asia-Pacific respondents were also overwhelmingly (76 per cent) concerned by reports of fraudulent Covid-19 test results and vaccination passports surfacing, with only six per cent saying they were “not concerned”.
In light of this, Collinson is supporting the development of accredited testing solutions, along with Verifly, CommonPass and IATA, including the piloting of digital health passports aimed at reducing the chance of fraudulent activity – while expediting the safe return of global travel.
“The global travel recovery won’t be immediate, but we do have the unique opportunity to make things better than ever before by working together to evolve current practices,” said Todd Handcock, Asia Pacific president for Collinson.
“This joint research with CAPA has helped shine a light on the areas that require immediate, combined focus and effort from government bodies and private organisations – particularly those in the travel ecosystem – in order to remove remaining barriers and help achieve the safe, long-term return of global travel.”