Things to know about Circuit Breaker
Singapore uses the term “Circuit Breaker” when it comes to the measures taken regarding the pandemic. Apart from social distancing and temperature checks, watch how I adapted and learn what’s new here.
I came to Singapore at the end of Phase 2 and now (on publish date) we are practicing Phase 3. Nothing much have changed, only the fact that the social gathering can now be up to 8 people together at once. Apart from that, here’s my experience in adjusting to the circuit breaker here in Singapore comparing to my experience in the Philippines.
There is no doubt that Singapore dealt with the pandemic smoother than Philippines. One of the obvious facto is due to population control. All countries experienced lockdowns and Singapore is no different. With the adjustment to the new normal, here are some of the current things citizens needs to adapt to and apply in their daily lives.
General:
People behave normally, but with masks on. Implementation of work from home is applied as well and people regularly go to school and work. Vaccinations have started withe the Healthcare and Aviation workers.
Community:
Mask vs Mask + Face Shield
Singapore only required the use of mask everywhere. In the Philippines, masks and mandatory use of shields (for indoors in establishments) are applied.
Contact tracing
With the quick thinking of Singapore and their more centralised shared information. they set up a system by using TraceTogether as their fast solution to trace their citizens. TraceTogether has an app accessible to anyone in Singapore and it is used to log every individuals particulars to every establishment, transportations they enter. This is done by using the app to scan QR codes in every entrance (Safe Entry).
Those without access to phones or the app can use TracTogether’s distributed tokens. It is a simple device with a QR code with your particulars in it. It is used to be scanned since every entrance has a personnel with a code reader and to ensure everyone scans the codes or get their tokens scanned
Without the first 2 options, the last option is using the citizen’s national ID or pass.
Transportations
Safe entry are provided in Mrt, Lrt & Taxis as well.
Everyone behaves the same as before. People still sit and stand together. The only difference is that everyone is wearing a mask and the added discouragement of minimizing talking to each other and/or on the phone.
Tourist Spots:
Attractions are operating as usual, except over the top celebrations with fireworks displays (ex: Sentosa, Marina Bay). Booking in advanced are encouraged to prevent long queues and control over the crowd.
Dining in:
Maximum pax per table is 8 as of the moment. Dining is welcome as long as booking in advance for certain restaurants are done and applying the tracing protocol are met.
To learn more about what is Circuit Breaker and the current news, click the following links:
