S’pore Sports Halls To Close During Heightened Alert, Swimming Pools To Remain Open

Singapore Sports Halls To Close From 16 May To 13 Jun

UPDATE (12.40PM, 15 May), All sports halls, squash facilities will close from 16 May to 13 Jun.

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On Friday (14 May), the Multi-Ministry Taskforce announced that Covid-19 measures will be tightened from 16 May to 13 Jun in light of the surge in community cases over recent weeks.

Social Gatherings Capped At 2 Pax Instead Of 5 Till 13 Jun, WFH Back To Default Mode

Some of the new measures include capping social gathering sizes to 2 persons and suspending strenuous indoor sports activities.

Later that evening, Sport SG issue an updated guideline further elaborating on what’s allowed and what’s not during the month-long Phase 2 Heightened Alert.

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Sports halls remain open but can only admit maximum of 50 persons

According to the guidelines, sports/recreational facilities can only admit a single person per 16 square metres of their gross floor area. This is capped at 50 persons per facility, regardless of size.

Similar to the new restriction on social gatherings, group activities taking place at these facilities are also capped at 2 individuals. The pair should also keep a distance of 2 metres from each other while exercising.

Instructors from permitted enterprises can still conduct programmes indoors. There is, however, a limit of 30 participants, who must keep to groups of up to 2.

For such classes happening outdoors, participants are allowed to remove their masks if the activity in question is of high intensity — for example, swimming.

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However, for such cases, only 2 individuals are permitted. Multiple groups of 2 are not allowed.

Badminton & basketball allowed indoors, but with masks on

Physical activities, where participants are in close proximity to one another and “not reasonably expect to be wearing masks”, will not be allowed during the period.

Low-intensity sport can still take place indoors, but participants must don masks at all times. Such activities include:

• Yoga
• Pilates
• Tai Chi

Indoors sports like table tennis, basketball, badminton, and volleyball are still allowed but is similarly capped at groups of 2. Participants would also have to have their masks on at all times.

Gyms offering combat sports activities such as MMA, Muay Thai and boxing are allowed to open but must adhere to the following rules:

• Ensure participants are masked at all times
• Keep grappling time below 15 mins per session
• Do away with common equipment like punching bags and dummies
• Ensure there is no cardio, weight, strength, or resistance training
• Keep to cohorting participants

Source

If you have further queries, check out Sports SG’s updated guidelines here and the FAQ document here.

Find alternative ways to keep fit

The tightened restrictions that will come into play on Sunday (16 May) will likely affect Singaporeans who frequently exercise in groups.

We hope that they’d be able to adjust to the new measures during the month or find alternative ways to keep fit.

Let’s also stay optimistic and hope that one month of Phase 2 Heightened Alert will be enough to keep the community cases under control.

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Featured image adapted from ActiveSG.