SINGAPORE - As Singapore moves out of Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) and towards its plan of being a Covid-19 resilient nation, fully vaccinated individuals will be allowed to participate in indoor, mask-off, high-intensity activities in groups of up to five from Tuesday (Aug 10), the Ministry of Health announced on Friday.
Strenuous indoor exercises classes as well as strenuous individual and group indoor sports and exercise activities have not been allowed to take place since July 22 under Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) measures following a spike in community cases.
The latest easing of measures will take place in two phases, starting with the preparatory stage that begins on Tuesday.
Under the new measures that are part of the preparatory stage, unvaccinated individuals who produce a negative test result or recovered patients can also be part of these indoor, mask-off activities that are limited to groups of five.
The capacity limit for spectator sports will be capped at 500 if all attendees are fully vaccinated and at 50 for those with no pre-event testing.
If the situation remains under control, the capacity limit for spectator sports events will increase to 1,000 people for those who have received two doses of a vaccine from Aug 19.
But the capacity limit will remain at 50 for events that do not implement pre-event testing.
Gyms and fitness studios will also have to adhere to the "vaccinate or regular test" regime, which will take effect from Oct 1.
Under this regime, those who are unvaccinated will be required to undergo regular testing as part of a move to pick up possible infections early and mitigate the risk of transmissions.
When at least 80 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated, more measures will be eased, with differentiated safe distancing rules for vaccinated and unvaccinated persons.
The vaccination rate stands at 67 per cent now, with about 70 per cent of population expected to be fully vaccinated by Monday.
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.