Covid-19: Stricter measures including ban on events of over 250 people; new app to help contact tracing

STRICTER "safe distancing measures" are being introduced for events, public venues such as food and beverage outlets and workplaces, to reduce the risk of further local transmission of Covid-19, the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced on Friday. A new government app will also help contact tracers inform users swiftly if they have been in close contact with a Covid-19 case - even if the case is a stranger.

As of noon on Friday, 40 new Covid-19 cases were reported, taking Singapore's total to 385. Of the new cases, 30 were imported, including 22 returning citizens or permanent residents, and another seven on long-term passes.

From Saturday till June 30, all events and gatherings with 250 or more participants must be suspended -- including MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) events, religious gatherings and private events such as weddings.

Smaller events and gatherings must have precautionary measures to ensure separation of at least a metre, including spaced seating at events. Events must also comply with existing guidelines such as having temperature- and health-screening measures, and turning away those who are unwell.

The government is working with venue operators to ensure this is implemented over the coming days, with enforcement via venue licensing conditions.

Alongside measures to reduce imported cases and facilitate contact tracing, safe distancing is another key line of defence, said Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong, who co-chairs the multi-ministry taskforce on Covid-19. "We have to do this more rigorously than what we are doing today, in order to protect ourselves."

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"It cannot just be business as usual," he added, saying that the idea is to have "fewer people out and about" and a reduction in number of gatherings.

Public venues must ensure separation of at least a metre between patrons. For instance, queues should be kept fast moving, and operators are encouraged to mark out queues with spacing of at least a metre.

Food-and-beverage outlets should keep a distance of at least one metre between tables and between seats. Patrons who wish to be seated together may still do so, but there should be a safe distance between different groups. This is mandatory and can be enforced via licensing conditions, said Mr Wong.

"We recognise that all this will have significant costs for our F&B operators," he said, but added that this is a necessary precaution.

Entertainment venues and attractions -- including cinemas, theatres, theme parks, casinos, museums and galleries -- should adopt measures to ensure separation, such as by reducing operating capacity and adopting chequer-board or alternate seating.

Employers are strongly advised to have measures to reduce close physical interactions among their workers. They should facilitate telecommuting and use teleconferencing in place of physical meetings where possible. Where telecommuting is not possible, precautions such as staggered working hours and spacing between work stations should be taken.

Non-critical work events should be deferred, while critical events must be limited to 250 participants, with separation.

An earlier suspension of senior-centric activities organised by public institutions will be extended for another 14 days, through April 7. In addition, all organisers of activities involving physical interaction among seniors -- including private organisers -- should suspend these from March 22 to April 7.

For community-driven contact-tracing, a government mobile app was released on Friday to complement the work of MOH contact tracers. Individuals can choose to download the app, TraceTogether, and turn on Bluetooth to detect other app users nearby.

The encrypted Bluetooth records are stored remotely on each user's own phone. If a user is involved in contact tracing, they can then consent to send the app data to the MOH. Only then will the government have access to the logs.

Using the logs, the MOH contact tracers can then inform app users who were close contacts, roughly defined as being within 2 metres for 30 minutes. No notifications are sent via the app itself.

"It means that poor memory will no longer slow down the process of contact tracing," said taskforce member Janil Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State for Transport and for Communications and Information.

No location data is collected via the app at any time, and the only personal data required is a mobile number.

Under the Infectious Diseases Act, action can be taken against individuals who do not cooperate with contact tracing. Nonetheless, use of the app is voluntary, and users can stop using it at any time.

The app was developed by Government Technology Agency in collaboration with the MOH. More information on privacy safeguards can be found at http://go.gov.sg/tracetogether-privacy