Singapore’s nightlife sector allowed to fully reopen this month

The Singapore government has announced that the nightlife sector will be allowed to fully reopen this month as the city-state continues to relax COVID-19 safety measures.

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The news comes nearly two weeks after it was announced that live music would be allowed back in all venues in Singapore, including F&B establishments, from March 29. At that time, the nightlife sector was not cleared for reopening, the Minister of Finance Lawrence Wong explaining: “These are activities with higher risk of transmission, and it is also generally more difficult to comply with prevailing [safe management measures] 1 to 5 [regulations] in these settings.”

As Channel NewsAsia reports today (April 4), Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Home Affairs have announced that the nightlife sector will be allowed to fully reopen on April 19. These nightspots will be governed by the safe management measures for F&B, retail liquor, and live performance outlets where applicable.

Clubgoers looking to dance will have to abide by several COVID-19 public health measures, however. Upon entry, patrons will have to produce a negative Antigen Rapid Test which has been supervised by a test provider approved by the Ministry of Health that is valid for 24 hours after test results have been obtained.

Entry will be limited to groups of 10 fully vaccinated individuals, and mask-wearing indoors is mandatory. Safe distancing of 1metre is required when unmasked, and capacity limits of 75 per cent have been set for events with more than 1,000 attendees. However, no capacity limit will be imposed on events with less than 1,000 attendees.

The ministries have warned that failure to comply with these regulations could lead to outlets being served a closure order.

The official resumption of live music in Singapore comes after months of pilots of live performances, from full-capacity concerts to hybrid festivals. In January six music venues were approved to stage pilot concerts with full audience capacity and no social distancing.

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