GGRAsia – Entertainments to stay closed in Singapore phase two easing

Entertainments to stay closed in Singapore phase two easing

Jun 17, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Singapore, Top of the deck

Although Singapore is due in the early hours of Friday (June 19) to move to phase two of its programme to reopen economic activity following the initial Covid-19 crisis, there will still be a ban on “entertainment venues” such as “bars, nightclubs, karaoke outlets, cinemas, theatres, as well as indoor and outdoor attractions”. That is according to the Singapore government’s main website.

It added that “large-scale events and venues, such as conferences, exhibitions, concerts and trade fairs,” would also remain barred.

The city-state’s two casino resorts – Marina Bay Sands, run by a unit of United States-based Las Vegas Sands Corp, and Resorts World Sentosa, run by Genting Singapore Ltd – were not mentioned on either the list of permitted or non-permitted activities in relation to phase two of exit from the so-called “circuit breaker” measures that have been in place to contain locally the pandemic.

Singapore’s two casino complexes have been shut since April 7 as the city-state’s government stepped up its efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Investment brokerage Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd had said in a June 9 note that “Singapore casino closure has been extended to at least July 1”. It did not specify a source for that assertion.

Singapore’s Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) told GGRAsia in a June 10 email that it did “not have new updates to share” regarding how much longer Singapore’s two casino resorts would be shuttered.

The country’s Multi-Ministry Taskforce on Covid-19 announced on Monday that the decision to permit the community to move to phase two of circuit-breaker exit was “because community infection rates have generally remained stable, cases in migrant worker dormitories have declined, and there are no new large clusters emerging”.

In a Tuesday press release, the Ministry of Health said that as of noon that day, a further 151 Covid-19 cases had been confirmed: 149 cases in dormitories used by migrant workers, and two cases in the wider community, involving work permit holders but not Singaporean citizens or permanent residents.

The same day it was also announced that from 11.59pm on Wednesday (June 17) Singapore citizens and permanent residents who have been in either Australia, Brunei, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, mainland China, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan or Vietnam in the 14 consecutive days prior their entry to Singapore, would be allowed to serve their compulsory quarantine at home, instead of government-dedicated facilities. Other authorised travellers not covered by so-called “fast-lane” arrangements would still need do quarantine in designated facilities, and bear the cost of stay and pay for their respective Covid-19 test.