Singapore’s easing of coronavirus restrictions hinges on higher usage of contact-tracing app: minister
- Education minister Lawrence Wong says the island nation’s third phase of reopening is dependent on low community transmissions and more people using TraceTogether
- He says the locally developed programme will be more effective if 70 per cent of the population use it, up from the current 45 per cent
Singapore on Tuesday unveiled a further easing of Covid-19 social-distancing rules, but officials say a full economic reopening hinges on a substantial increase in usage of the locally developed TraceTogether contact-tracing app as well as digital check-ins at public places.
The measures under consideration include bumping up the number of people allowed in a social group from five to eight, and permitting weddings as well as religious and business events to have multiple groups of 50 people who do not intermingle. Currently, weddings and religious events can only have two groups of 50.
The restrictions could be eased “before the end of the year”, according to Singapore’s Minister for Education Lawrence Wong, who also co-chairs its coronavirus task force, as he announced the road map towards the island nation’s third – and final – phase of reopening.
The rate of infection in Singapore has slowed, with the number of new cases reported in the single digits for the past nine days. However, for Phase Three to happen, community transmissions would have to remain low, Wong said, while also hinting that more people needed to get on board with the TraceTogether programme, either through the smartphone app or a token developed by the government.
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Currently, about 45 per cent of Singapore’s population is on TraceTogether, a figure Wong said he would like to see hit 70 per cent so the programme – which uses Bluetooth technology to track users who have been in proximity for an extended period of time – would be more effective.
The country has been in Phase Two of its reopening since June 18, when the current limits on social groups and wedding attendees were imposed. Cinemas and malls also reopened, but restaurants with liquor licences have to stop serving alcohol by 10.30pm. This phase came after an eight-week lockdown from April 7 to June 2 that was imposed after a spike in Covid-19 numbers.