Dining-in will be disallowed at the cooked food sections of hawker centres from 7 April – 4 May 2020, but takeaways and deliveries will be available. All 83 markets managed by NEA or NEA-appointed operators will remain open, and patrons should avoid over-buying or visiting markets during peak periods on weekends.
Singapore, 3 April 2020 – In view of the evolving COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) situation, the Multi-Ministry Taskforce has announced on 3 April 2020, an elevated set of safe distancing measures as a circuit breaker to pre-empt the trend of increasing local transmission of COVID-19. In line with the elevated safe distancing measures, dining-in will be disallowed at the dining areas of cooked food sections of hawker centres, with effect from 7 April 2020 until 4 May 2020 (inclusive). During this period, patrons can continue to make cooked food purchases at our hawker centres using food deliveries or through takeaways only. All 83 markets managed by NEA or NEA-appointed operators will continue to be open to the public.
Cooked Food Sections of Hawker Centres
2 During the suspension period, no one should gather or loiter at the dining areas of our hawker centres. While patrons and delivery riders can continue to enter the hawker centres to do take-outs or fulfil delivery orders, there should be no consumption of food or drinks at the dining areas within the hawker centres during this period. When taking-out, patrons are encouraged to bring your own container to reduce the use of disposable packaging and adopt a more sustainable lifestyle. When queueing at the stalls or waiting for their takeaway orders, patrons and visitors should maintain a 1 metre separation from any other person in the hawker centre, and follow floor queue markings in front of the hawker stalls where available. There will be notices put up at the hawker centres to guide patrons on these restrictions. SG Clean ambassadors and volunteers will be deployed to assist patrons and visitors. NEA officers will also be deployed to issue advisories and take enforcement actions as necessary. All patrons and visitors are reminded to follow the guidance and instructions of our officers, volunteers and ambassadors.
Markets
3 While the markets managed by NEA or NEA-appointed operators will remain open, members of public should continue to purchase from the markets, in a responsible manner by purchasing only what they and their family require. There is enough fresh food supply and the supermarkets also remain open during this period, so there is no need to over-buy or hoard.
4 In addition, NEA urges all members of the public to visit markets on weekdays as much as possible, to avoid crowds, and to observe safe distancing while in the markets. A weekday visit will also be more efficient and pleasant as the crowd is at least 30% less than weekends. If patrons must visit markets during the weekends, they should consider going early since stalls open as early as 5am, and avoid the usual peak period between 7:30am-10:00am. Vulnerable persons, such as the elderly and children, should avoid visiting the markets at weekends.
5 NEA and Town Councils have progressively drawn up queue markings in front of stalls to guide patrons to maintain at least one metre separation from one another. To supplement this measure, NEA will commence a trial at Serangoon Garden Market on 4 April 2020 to study how crowd management can be conducted in a market setting, where the entry and exit points of the market will be controlled to avoid overcrowding at the market. NEA will evaluate the effectiveness of this trial and monitor feedback before deciding if this trial would be extended to other markets.
6 NEA urges members of public to exercise socially responsible behaviour to protect their own well-being and that of others around them. Patrons who are feeling unwell or are sick should refrain from going to the markets and hawker centres. We will continue to monitor the situation closely, and may implement further measures for crowd control.
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