What you can do (or cannot do) to maintain your personal and family’s well-being in response to the COVID-19 circuit breaker measures

The Government will be implementing an elevated set of safe distancing measures, as a circuit breaker to pre-empt the trend of increasing local transmission of COVID-19. The aim is to reduce much more significantly movements and interactions in public and private places.

These heightened safe distancing measures will be in place for four weeks (i.e. two incubation cycles) from 7 April 2020 until 4 May 2020 (inclusive). Current safe distancing measures on capacity limits and physical separation remain in force and must be strictly complied with, especially over the weekend.

Physical fitness

• Sports and recreation facilities, such as public swimming pools, country clubs, gyms and fitness studios will be closed.
• Organised sporting programmes will remain suspended.
• All recreational facilities in hotels will be closed.
• You are to exercise on your own, around your immediate neighbourhood in open, uncrowded places.
• Public parks and open-air stadiums will remain open, but gatherings in groups in these spaces must be avoided. Safe distancing must be practised even in open spaces.
• You can check how crowded the parks are before going for a relaxing activity or running at https://safedistparks.nparks.gov.sg/
• You can also work out at home by following fitness classes or resources online.

Social wellness

• Social contact should be confined to immediate family members living in the same household during this period. You can still keep in touch with family members and friends through video calls or phone calls.
• Retail outlets that provide items and services necessary to support the daily living needs of the population will remain open. Specific outlets in the malls will remain open for this purpose. These include supermarkets, pharmacies, restaurants, food and beverage outlets, and other outlets offering essential services. All other physical retail outlets shall be closed.
• You can check how crowded the malls are before going to get your essential items at https://www.spaceout.gov.sg.
• All entertainment venues such as nightclubs, bars, pubs, karaoke lounges, amusement centres, billiard saloons, bowling centres, computer games centres and cinemas remain to be closed.
• From 7 April 2020, all attractions, theme parks, museums and casinos will be closed.
• All other public sector social and arts activities and facilities will be closed. These include SportSG activities, community centre classes, museums, libraries and art galleries /performance venues.

Food and nutrition

• From 7 April 2020, all restaurants, hawker centres, coffeeshops, food courts and other food and beverage outlets will remain open only for takeaway or delivery.
• Food suppliers – including food and food ingredient production, food manufacturing, food processing, abattoirs/ slaughterhouses, food caterers, importers and traders, and food logistics, cold stores/ warehouses, food safety testing, supermarkets, convenience stores, grocery retailers, wholesale markets and wet markets – will remain open. You can be assured of the continued availability of food items.
  
• Food delivery services are available on three key food delivery platforms – Deliveroo, foodpanda and GrabFood.
• To help F&B businesses lower business costs from their delivery and takeaway operations, from 7 April to 4 May 2020, ESG will fund five percentage points of the commission cost charged by the above three delivery platforms.

Personal care, health and wellness

• All public and private acute hospitals (including offsite specialist clinics and offsite Ambulatory Surgical Centres), community hospitals, polyclinics, Public Health Preparedness Clinics (PHPCs), and renal dialysis centres will remain open for the delivery of essential services*.
• Non-PHPC General Practitioner (GP) clinics, specialist clinics, dental clinics, and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) clinics may remain open only for the delivery of essential services. All non-essential appointments should be deferred, and any on-site staffing kept to a minimum.
• Where possible, services that are suitable for teleconsultation should be delivered remotely. Examples of essential and non-essential face-to-face services are found in Annex A.
• Operators that provide hairdressing & barber services (basic haircut only), optician services and sale of optical products, laundry services for Essential Services will be available.
• Plumbers, electricians, & locksmiths will be available.
• Operators that provide vehicle recovery and repair services, repair of consumer electronics, and household appliances will be available.

* Essential services/ procedures refer to those, if not provided or performed, would result in significant or rapid deterioration of the patient’s medical condition, and potentially threaten their health and wellbeing.

Family and pet care

• Residential and home-based community care services such as nursing homes, psychiatric rehabilitation homes, psychiatric sheltered homes, inpatient palliative care, home medical, home nursing, home palliative care, interim caregiver service, and meals delivery services will continue to function.
• Senior care centres, day rehab centres, psychiatric rehabilitation centres, and day hospices will be closed. Selected centres will remain open to support those with inadequate family support, as well as intensive care needs. Such seniors can also be supported with home care services including meals delivery if needed.
• Pre-schools will be closed. But parents/guardians who are working in essential services and are unable to find alternative care arrangements will get help in looking after their children. Priority will be given to children of healthcare workers as well as those of low-wage or daily-wage workers employed in essential services.
• Parents working in essential services such as healthcare, who are unable to secure alternative care arrangements may approach their children’s preschools and primary schools for assistance.
• Veterinary services will be open to provide emergency and non-elective services, including the hospitalisation of your pets.
• Pet supplies stores will be open for provision of animal feed but no grooming or leisure activities are allowed.

Education and learning

• From 8 April 2020 to 4 May 2020, schools and institutes of higher learning will shift to full home-based learning, while preschool and student care centres will suspend services. Private education institutions should also move to home-based learning, or suspend classes otherwise.
• With home-based learning, school-based assessments and examinations for the year will need to be adjusted where necessary. All school-based Mid-Year Examinations will be cancelled.
• However, national examinations, including the mid-year GCE O- and A-Level Mother Tongue Language examinations in June, Year-End Examinations and Primary School Leaving Examinations will proceed as planned and with the necessary precautionary measures in place.

Workplace safety

• Workplaces, except for those in essential services and key economic sectors, will be closed. Employers that are able to continue to operate their businesses with their employees working from home should continue to do so.
• All activities that can take place through telecommuting must be done from home.
• For those who must be at the workplace – such as those manning essential services – companies must implement safe distancing measures to reduce physical interactions by reducing the need for and duration of physical interactions, staggering working hours, postponing all group events and implementing shift work and/or split team arrangements.

Spiritual wellness

• Religious services will remain suspended and places of worship will be closed.
• Where necessary, places of worship may continue to conduct funeral rites but should involve no more than 10 people at any one time.

Financial wellness

• All financial markets in Singapore remain open, and payment services are unaffected.
• Banking services will continue to be available through online channels, ATMs and bank branches.
• Insurance, broking, custody, asset management, and financial advisory services will also continue to be available.
• Some branches of banks and finance companies and customer service centres of insurance companies may close temporarily because of reduced customer traffic.

Others

• Essential services, such as national security, law and order, regulatory enforcement, government communications, public healthcare services, transportation, foreign affairs and embassy services, border control, civil defence, critical infrastructure, utilities, greenery and animal management and environmental services will continue.
• Key physical centres that provide help to needy Singaporeans, such as residential social services and social service centres will also remain open. 
• Blood donation services will remain in operation, and residents are encouraged to continue donating blood during this period. As part of the additional precautions put in place for safe distancing, donors are highly encouraged to make appointments for their blood donations. Please visit HSA’s website for more information: https://www.hsa.gov.sg/blood-donation.
• All government-managed columbaria (Choa Chu Kang, Mandai and Yishun Columbarium) will be closed, with effect from 7 April 2020 until 4 May 2020 (inclusive).
• During the period of closure, installation of urns into niches may continue, with permit from NEA. Next-of-kin may be present but should be limited in number, with proper safe distancing observed.
• Choa Chu Kang Cemetery will remain open for burials, and Mandai Crematorium will remain open for cremation services.
• Operators that provide funeral-related services (e.g. funeral directors/undertakers, crematoria, columbarium, funeral parlours) will be available.
• Operators that provide telecommunications (Fixed, Mobile and Internet Access), data centres, broadcasting services (radio and television), postal services, security printing services, the publication of newspapers, waste Collection & disposal services, environmental hygiene monitoring & public cleansing services will continue.

Social Responsibility is Key

• Social responsibility is critical in slowing the spread of COVID-19.
• Those who are unwell, even with mild flu-like symptoms, should see a doctor immediately. They should not go out into the public for any other purpose, and should not come into close contact with others.
• We should stop non-essential activities and avoid all gatherings beyond our immediate family or household members during this period.
• All should adopt safe distancing and good hygiene practices even at home, and encourage your friends and family to do so as well.