SINGAPORE is set to roll out a 14-day fast and easy testing regime for workers involved in "higher-risk activities" that may include contact with individuals who are unmasked, the Republic's Covid-19 multi-ministry taskforce said on Friday.

They include staff at dine-in eateries, gyms where clients are unmasked and personal care services such as hair and make-up studios, spas, saunas and massage establishments.

The testing requirement using antigen rapid tests (ART) will be rolled out progressively from next week before being made mandatory from around mid-July.

"Most of such testing can be done through a system of self swabs by the employees themselves and supervised by the employers," said Finance Minister Lawrence Wong, who is also co-chair of the taskforce.

At a media briefing on Friday, Mr Wong said that the authorities will be training supervisors on how to go about setting up this system in their respective organisations, and the test kits will be made available for this purpose.

He added that the government will also set up quick test centres to support small businesses which may be unable to organise these supervised self-swabs on their own.

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Two centres - in Tekka and Yishun - will be operational from June 21.

Meanwhile, individuals who have visited hotspots on the same day as infected persons and may have been exposed to the virus may receive "Health Alerts" via SMS from the government.

This comes as the authorities are moving to strengthen ringfencing around cases through the use of TraceTogether and SafeEntry data.

These individuals will be required to undergo mandatory testing at designated testing centres and stay isolated until they receive their results, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a statement.

"While the risk of infection is lower if they were to test negative, they should continue to limit their interactions with others as an added precaution and restrict their activities to only those which are essential," said MOH.

They will be allowed to go to work if they cannot work from home, but they must comply with all safe-management measures at the workplace.

These individuals will also be given DIY test kits which they will need to self-administer at home over the subsequent days to confirm they are not infected.

More details will be announced at a later date, the ministry said.

SafeEntry Gateway Check-Out Boxes will also be rolled out progressively at venues with high footfall to facilitate SafeEntry check-outs, according to MOH.

These include venues with higher throughput of visitors, such as malls, hospitals and polyclinics, and places where individuals are likely to remove their masks for a prolonged period, such as eateries and gyms.

MOH added that this follows public feedback from SafeEntry Gateway users who want to perform SafeEntry check-outs but are unable to do so.

Read more:

• Indoor mask-off fitness activities may resume in groups of 2 or classes of 30

• Two can dine together at F&B outlets from June 21; 5-person cap targeted for mid-July

• Singapore’s roadmap to reopening will be unveiled ‘in due course’, says task force as it focuses on vaccination targets