More social and economic activities will resume as Singapore moves into the third phase of its re-opening from 28 Dec 2020. This was announced on a televised address to the nation by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday, 14 December to provide updates to the COVID-19 situation.
The permitted group size for social gatherings will be increased from five to eight persons. Attractions can start applying to increase their operating capacity from 50% to 65%. Capacity limits will also be increased from 10m to 8m per person in malls and large standalone stores. The multi-ministerial task force tackling the pandemic will continue to conduct pilots in higher-risk activities and settings to assess how these activities can take place and scale up safely.
It has been nearly a full year when COVID-19 struck. The virus continues to be rampant with many countries seeing recurring waves of infection and record number of daily cases. As Singapore reopens its borders in a controlled way, safe management measures, COVID-19 testing and contact tracing will continue to be in place to help Singapore mitigate the virus spread and to keep the community transmission low.
This includes the TraceTogether-only SafeEntry that will be implemented early next year whereby only the TraceTogether App or Token can be used for SafeEntry check-ins to facilitate contact tracking. A new segregated travel lane arrangements will also kick in in the second half of January 2021. Short-term business travellers with stays of 14 days or less can come into Singapore without the need to be quarantined. They will have to move in a pre-declared group of five and will be transported upon landing to dedicated facilities where they will stay and work.