Ticketed Events With 250 Or More Participants To Be Cancelled Or Postponed
All ticketed events with 250 participants or more are to be cancelled or postponed, according to a Ministry of Health (MOH) press released on Friday (13 Mar).
This includes all mass gatherings like cultural, entertainment and sporting events.
This is in line with the social distancing measures that are being undertaken by the Singapore Government to prevent the further spread of Covid-19 after it was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation.
If the events are already committed, organisers must prove precautionary measures
If the event has already been “committed”, for example tickets have already been sold, the organisers of such events must adhere to precautionary measures set by MOH if they want to go ahead.
According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), the measures include:
- turning away people who are ill
- temperature and health screenings
- instilling measures to aid contact tracing
CNA also quoted MOH’s news release as saying:
Participants could be seated at least one metre apart from one another, and be advised to reduce contact with others
250 participants a benchmark for organisers
National Development Minister Lawrence Wong elaborated at a press conference on Friday (13 Mar) that the benchmark of 250 was a “guide to let event organisers know roughly where to benchmark their events, the size of their events”.
Mr Wong later added that other factors would have to be considered as well, like the “duration of the event” as well as its “nature”.
MOH also advised organisers of events to reduce the scale of their events to below 250 attendees where possible, which would allow participants of events to be further apart.
Adhering to regulations and taking precautions is key
The increasing severity of precautions does pose an inconvenience to many.
While frustrating, they are for the greater good.
Following these regulations keeps our society safe, and we should adhere to them as closely as possible.
Featured image adapted from YouTube.
