When it was announced that non-essential stores would be closed during the circuit breaker period, many Singaporeans started panicking.
Does this mean I can’t drink my regular 8 cups of bubble tea every day?
But to everyone’s surprise, bubble tea stores all over the country remained open.
Either the government understands that we need bubble tea to survive, or the prime minister himself can’t go a day without a brown sugar milk tea.
We may have celebrated too soon, however, because there’s a chance bubble tea will really be taken away from us this time.
Some Essential Services Would be Removed During Circuit Breaker
The Ministry of Health (MOH) has announced that it is looking to tighten the list of companies that are still operating during the circuit breaker period.
As you know, only essential services are allowed to remain open during the circuit breaker, which includes restaurants, hawker centres, coffee shops, and food courts because well, people need to eat.
MOH said that in deciding which services would be open, the Multi-Ministry Taskforce was “mindful not to disrupt supply chains and essential services needed for daily living.”
This is why bubble tea stores remained open, I’m guessing.
But now, MOH said it is looking to remove some of the essential services that are operating during the circuit breaker period.
Why?
Well, they’re aiming to further reduce the number of workers that have to continue to go to work, so that more can stay at home, and they can minimise people’s movements.
Reader: *shudders* Which services are they going to remove?
That’s the question on everyone’s mind, dear reader.
Hair Salons, Hardware Stores, & Bubble Tea?
Netizens on Hardware Zone had different opinions as to which essential services would be removed from the list.
Some guessed it would be hair salons, with one person joking that people will start “panic cutting” if it were announced.
Many others guessed it would be our beloved bubble tea.
MOH hasn’t revealed which essential services would be removed yet, so we’ll have to anxiously wait to see if we’ll have to give up bubble tea for a month.
If so, boba rehab clinics might have to open to help Singaporeans cope with their withdrawal.
Enhanced Measures for Workplaces Which Remain Open
MOH also announced that there will enhanced measures for workplaces that remain open during the circuit breaker:
- ceasing all cross-deployment or movement of workers across different workplace premises
- no more physical interactions between teams working in different locations
- safe distancing measures must be practiced for essential service providers who need to move between different locations to perform their services
- employers and on-site managers are also required to implement strict safe distancing measures within their premises and for company-arranged transport
- social interactions among workers during their course of work, as well as during their meal and break times should be reduced
- Employers and on-site managers should ensure that workers on-site are wearing masks
MOH said that these new measures will be enforced by the Ministry of Manpower and other enforcement agencies.
First-time offences by essential service providers, owners or occupiers will be issued composition offers of $1000, and repeat offenders will face higher fines or prosecution in court for egregious cases.
Essential service providers may also be required to suspend their operations should any of their staff working on the premises become infected.
If it seems that measures are getting tighter and tighter, that’s because the number of Covid-19 cases in Singapore is still rising at a concerning rate.
A staggering 334 new infections were announced yesterday, bringing the total to 3252.
10 people have died from the disease so far.
So if giving up bubble tea for a month will help you, your loved ones, and your fellow Singaporeans stay healthy, that’s a sacrifice worth making, right?
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Reader: *drinking bubble tea* Did you say something?
In the meantime, nothing is confirmed yet; download the Goody Feed app so you’d be the first to know what’s removed, because depending on Facebook to stay updated is like depending on a cat to send food to you: it’s possible but not a good idea.