With the announcement of the circuit breaker period until June 1, the list of essential services that can be operated on site has been tightened.
This is to reduce the number of workers who have to work physically so that we can better contain the Covid 19 outbreak.
On May 2, the government announced a gradual loosening of the circuit breaker, and some companies may start operating again on May 12.
Since there has been a lot of confusion about which companies can stay open, here is a list that will help clear the air:
What will continue to work:
- Supermarkets, convenience stores, grocery stores and wet markets (except convenience stores in parks)
- Pharmacies and personal care products (excluding beauty and cosmetic shops such as Beauty Language and Venus Beauty, as these are not classified as essential)
- Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) facilities with MOH-registered internal TCM practitioners may only be opened for consultation and distribution of related TCM medications (no walk-in retail is allowed).
- Optician by appointment only. No walk-in customers allowed.
- Critical catering services, including Hawker centers, food courts, coffee shops, those selling hot / cooked snacks and bread. These can still only be opened for snack and delivery services.
BreadTalk: Most outlets remain open because they continue to sell bread, but not cakes. Selected stores such as Funan Mall, CityLink Mall and Raffles City are closed. All sales outlets are expected to be fully reopened on May 12th.
Cedele: Some branches were closed until May 4th. All branches will be open from May 5th.
Monga: All three Monga branches are open. They sell bubble tea at the SingPost Center store, but it has to be bought with groceries.
Old Chang Kee: Most outlets remain open. The closed outlets are mainly in the CBD area.
Paris Baguette: 5 of its branches are still open. You can offer cakes that are made on site at the sales outlets.
Prima Deli: Most points of sale are closed, with the exception of 4 points of sale, where bread, rolls and rolls are served. However, it is expected that all sales outlets will reopen from May 12th to continue offering cakes, waffles, etc.
Starbucks: Many outlets remain open as Starbucks serves hot / cooked food. You may continue to sell drinks if they also serve hot / cooked food. The closed outlets are mainly in the CBD area.
Toastbox: Most outlets remain open as they serve hot / cooked food. You may continue to sell drinks if they also serve hot / cooked food. Selected are closed, including VivoCity, Ion Orchard, and Esplanade Mall.
Click here to see the full list of activities that are allowed to continue.
What will be closed or reopened from May 12:
- All non-essential services
- Independent F&B branches that mainly sell:
I. Beverages including bubble tea, fruit juice, smoothies, alcoholic beverages, coffee, tea;
All independent bubble tea and beverage stores will remain closed and may not be reopened from May 12th. Currently, they can only be operated from central kitchens.
ii. Packaged snacks and bulk snacks including nuts, potato chips, popcorn, bak kwa, cheese;
Bee Cheng Hiang: All sales outlets will be closed until May 12th. They will be fully reopened on May 12th.
iii. Desserts including red / green bean soup, grass jelly, ice cream, yogurt, cake, cupcakes, waffles, chocolate, cookies, sweet pastries, donuts;
Awfully Chocolate: With the exception of the flagship restaurant Ninethirty by Awfully Chocolate on 131 East Coast Road, all sales outlets are currently closed. All sales outlets are expected to be fully reopened on May 12th.
Bengawan Solo: All sales outlets and the central kitchen are closed for the time being and are expected to be fully reopened on May 12th.
Cat & The Fiddle: All branches are closed for the time being and are expected to be fully reopened on May 12th. The online shop remains open for deliveries.
Chateraise: All outlets are currently closed, including those in the Isetan Scotts supermarket at Shaw Center. They are expected to be fully reopened on May 12th.
Famous Amos: All sales outlets are closed for the time being. They are expected to be fully reopened on May 12th.
Jollibean: All Jollibean stores are currently closed. Income @ Raffles has a temporary pickup shop for online orders. All stores are expected to reopen completely from May 12th.
Krispy Kreme: All branches are closed for the time being, but are expected to reopen completely from May 12.
Polar Puffs & Cakes: All sales outlets are closed for the time being, but are expected to be fully reopened on May 12th. Their kiosks in café zones in hospitals are still open.
- All hairdressing and hairdressing services
- Pet supply stores must close physical stores and can do online sales and delivery
- Retail laundry services must close their physical stores, with the exception of unmanned stores. Allows online sales and delivery.
Precautions for those who stay open
For retail stores::
Safe distance measures must be taken using a crowd and queue management system to minimize the amount on their premises
- Use floor markings to demarcate customer queues at checkout counters or when needed
- Limit the number of customers in the store and keep a distance of at least 1 meter between the customers
- Encourage self-checkout, cashless or contactless payment
For supermarkets, retail stores and shopping centers::
Where this is reasonably practical:
- Perform temperature screening for customers at the entrances to identify customers with a fever
- Make sure that all employees, customers and other employees wear their masks on their premises at all times
- People with high traffic should do customer tracking
All shopping centers, retail stores and supermarkets should have a system that logs employee entry and exit. You can use the SafeEntry digital check-in application.
Supermarkets are also encouraged to provide special shopping hours for vulnerable groups, to use shopping malls or outdoor areas to sell goods temporarily to drive the crowd out of their stores, and to remind customers to enter 1 per family limit if this is possible in their shops.
Selected image source: Tiger Sugar / Starbucks
