With Chinese New Year (CNY) just a week away, preparations are in full swing, with crowds heading to Chinatown for festive needs. Unfortunately, this has given rise to safe distancing breaches.
As a result, 34 visitors and 11 businesses there have been fined for not adhering to mask-wearing or safe distancing measures.
To address the issue, more ambassadors are patrolling the area for crowd control till CNY.
According to the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) on Wednesday (3 Feb), 34 visitors were fined $300 each for not adhering to safety precautions, reports Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
This covers the period from 15 January till yesterday (3 Feb). STB noted that the breaches include not wearing a mask, and gathering in groups of more than 8.
CNA also reports that 11 businesses in Chinatown have been fined in the same period. Penalties range from $1,000 to $2,000 for not enforcing safe distancing among customers.
An STB spokesperson told CNA that since 15 January, more ambassadors have been deployed in Chinatown to ensure safe distancing protocols in light of the upcoming CNY.
The Chinatown Business Association has also employed more personnel to help with crowd control and safe distancing management.
Our safe management measures include 1m social distancing, wearing masks, keeping to groups of no more than 8, and SafeEntry check-ins as well as check-outs.
Patrons should try their best to visit Chinatown during off-peak hours to avoid adding to the crowds, suggested STB.
They added the possibility of implementing additional measures to manage crowding in the precinct, if the need arises.
While we have successfully kept our community cases low, we have yet to gain complete control over the pandemic.
Hence, we should do our best to curb possible infections, by taking necessary precautions.
Visit Chinatown during off-peak hours for instance, to keep chances of community transmission low.
This way, we can better embrace the CNY festivities, knowing we’ve done our part to keep the community safe.
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Featured image adapted from Facebook and Facebook.
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