Vaccination checks pose operational challenges for F&B, gym operators

Singapore

SINGAPORE will introduce differentiated treatment for vaccinated customers at eateries and gyms from Monday, but businesses told The Business Times they are concerned about potential logistical hiccups in its implementation.

Vaccinated individuals will be able to continue to dine in groups of up to five at participating food and beverage (F&B) outlets that have systems to check the vaccination status of patrons, Singapore's Covid-19 taskforce said on Friday.

Those who are not vaccinated however, will have to dine in groups of no more than two.

The changes come just a week after the cap on dine-in group sizes was lifted to five, from two, due to a growing cluster of 120 cases linked to several KTV lounges believed to have been operating illegally.

"The new rules of differentiated approach for vaccinated individuals of five are very new to our members and require a lot of operational effort to implement," said a spokesperson for the Restaurant Association of Singapore (RAS).

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He added that it is unfortunate the F&B industry, which has already been badly affected by the pandemic, faces "yet another round of difficulties".

As for gyms, indoor high-intensity activities can continue without masks in classes of up to 30 persons with groups of up to five as long as all individuals are fully vaccinated. Otherwise, the group size is limited to two.

Sean Tan, president and co-founder of Singapore Fitness Alliance, said every new round of tightening measures puts a dent in the confidence of gym goers.

"We take a long time to build up that confidence … because we have to convince them it's safe to come back," said Mr Tan.

Although official details are scant, industry players believe verification is likely to involve checking patrons' TraceTogether app or token, which would have records of their vaccination status.

Such door policies that require health or vaccination checks could become commonplace in the future, especially when tourists and more business activities return, said Singapore Nightlife Business Association (SNBA) president Joseph Ong.

But there could be further operational challenges, said Dellen Soh, chief executive of Minor Food Group and co-founder of ThaiExpress Concepts.

"There're a few things like, if you show your handphone, does this handphone really belong to you, or do we have to really say, 'please take out your IC (identification card) and please take out your phone at the same time'," said Mr Soh.

As such, Good Luck Beerhouse owner Kevin Ngan is anticipating "difficult situations" given that there will be some people who are bent on breaking the rules, he said.

"But we will do our part as much as possible and keep within the rules. We reckon that enforcement will be cumbersome and disruptive. But it is what it is. We have to work with what's prescribed," he said.

Meanwhile, additional manpower may be incurred at a time when businesses are already stretched, said Mr Tan, who is also director of the True Group.

Individual businesses will have to make a judgment call to see whether they do want to go through that check, he added.

Restaurants will also get to decide if they want to allow larger groups or keep to the two-person limit, but several told BT that the former would allow them to capture a higher revenue.

"As an F&B owner we will consider this (vaccination checks) because at the end of the day, the goal is to get as many customers in as possible and to generate as much revenue as possible," said restaurant and cocktail bar Jekyll & Hyde's owner Chua Ee Chien.

Mr Soh said the five-person limit brings his company's revenue up to about 60 to 70 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, compared with about 40 to 50 per cent for groups of two. Sales averaged just 25 per cent when only takeaway and deliveries were allowed.

"To just stick to two without checking, I think this is not what most of the restaurateurs would want to do. I would rather have a full-time person standing in front of the restaurant just to do the checking," said Mr Soh.

Businesses, while supportive of the government's efforts to contain the spread of the virus, are vexed by the current setback to the economic reopening.

It is frustrating as a whole to be penalised by the acts of the few operators who did not comply with the rules, said Jekyll and Hyde's Mr Chua.

"I think it would come as a shock to some of the nightlife operators (that have pivoted to F&B) that are suddenly required to close," said Mr Ong, adding that some of them will find it unfair because they have complied with the rules.

Some 400 nightlife establishments that had pivoted to operating as F&B outlets will have to suspend business for two weeks from Friday.

"This is unfortunate as it's caused by a small group of KTV lounges who obviously didn't even bother to do a proper business. They had declared and promised they would but had actually created an underground nightlife business," he added.

Other than F&B operators, businesses on the retail and services front are also greatly impacted by the dine-in restrictions, according to the Singapore Tenants United For Fairness (SGTUFF) in a statement.

"Entire sectors of businesses, workers and related ecosystems are now severely affected again because of this KTV outbreak. Many of us simply cannot sustain this kind of losses anymore," said the spokesperson.

SGTUFF is therefore appealing for landlords to provide fair rental rebates to tenants who have been affected since Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) in May. It is also urging the government to extend the Jobs Support Scheme, which covers 30 per cent of wages paid, to F&B and the retail and services businesses.

READ MORE: Dine-in group size cut, pivoted nightspots suspended amid 'major setback' due to KTV cluster