Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong addressed the nation on Friday to announce stricter measures to be implemented in order to battle the spread of COVID-19 in Singapore. One of the key measures he announced was the closure of workplace premises, retail outlets except for those necessary to support the daily living needs of the population, and limiting restaurants and food and beverage outlets to takeaway or delivery only.
These measures kick into action from 7 April 2020 and will last till 4 May 2020.
Essential Services and their related supply chains and service providers are exempted from the suspension, the detailed list of which can be found here.
Here are some of the key highlights of the measures affecting workplaces:
- Entities that are able to continue to operate their business (in limited or full capacity) with their employees working from home should continue to do so
- Food suppliers (including food and food ingredient production, food manufacturing, food processing, abattoirs/slaughter houses, food caterers, importers & traders and food logistics-cold stores/warehouses), food retail (including supermarkets, convenience stores, grocery & fruit stores, wholesale markets, wet markets), food & beverages (F&B) outlets (including restaurants, hawker centres, coffeeshops and food courts), and pharmacies will remain open.
- F&B outlets (including restaurants, hawker centres, coffee shops and food courts) can only offer take-away and deliveries only; no dining in is allowed. Outlets which do not currently offer take-away and/or delivery can do so or allow third-party food delivery services to do so for them.
Entities providing Essential Services must comply with the following must ensure that all activities that can take place through telecommuting must be done from home.
Employers 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;
- Implementing shift work and/or split team arrangements.