SINGAPORE - Vaccination-differentiated safe management measures kicked in at hotels, hostels and serviced apartments; institutes of higher learning (IHLs); and indoor sports facilities on Tuesday (Feb 1), further expanding the scope of settings that unvaccinated persons will not be able to enter.
Such measures are now also applicable for media conferences, work-related events as well as funerary memorial events.
This means only those who are fully vaccinated; those medically ineligible for Covid-19 vaccines; people who have recovered from the virus; as well as children aged 12 and below will be able to enter such settings.
However, agencies and ministries have further clarified previous guidelines for hotels and IHLs.
Previously, vaccination-differentiated measures at hotels were to apply to leisure guests only. Now they will apply to all guests and visitors.
In an updated advisory for hotels released on Monday (Jan 31), the Singapore Tourism Board said that while unvaccinated or partially-vaccinated individuals may enter the hotel premises, they will not be allowed to enter areas where sleeping facilities are provided, such as guest floors and guest rooms.
Just before 3pm, the usual check-in time at many hotels, there was a steady stream of guests seen entering several hotels The Straits Times visited in the Orchard and Marina Bay area on Tuesday. No guests were seen to be turned away.
Vaccination-differentiated measures also kicked in at IHLs — including Institute of Technical Education (ITE) campuses, polytechnics and universities.
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According to updated guidelines on the Ministry of Education website, unvaccinated visitors will not be allowed to enter their campuses.
Alongside full-time students pursuing Nitec/Higher Nitec, diploma or undergraduate degree qualifications, part-time students will now also be exempt from vaccination-differentiated measures.
This is a change from an initial guideline that said that all students other than full-time ones — such as those on part-time programmes — and visitors will need to be fully vaccinated to enter IHL campuses from Tuesday.
The guidelines for other sectors where vaccination-differentiated measures took effect on Tuesday remain the same.
Among them are indoor sports and fitness facilities. Such facilities, that ST spoke to last week, said that it would be business as usual for them.
Agencies such as Sport Singapore, which operates 26 swimming complexes and 24 fitness gyms around the island, have implemented vaccination-differentiated measures for higher risk activities like indoor mask-off activities at gyms since August last year.
The number of settings that the unvaccinated segment of the population can enter continues to be tightened.
Currently, vaccination-differentiation measures are applicable for everything from dining in at food and beverage establishments, to entering attractions, cinemas and shopping malls. They are also applicable for all congregational and worship services.
As at Sunday (Jan 30), 92 per cent of the eligible population has completed the full vaccination regimen, while 91 per cent has received at least one dose of the vaccine. Fifty-eight per cent of the population has received their booster shots.
As at noon on Monday, 759 people were hospitalised with Covid-19. There were 4,241 community cases reported.
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
