Bukit Batok Driving Centre to allow entry for fully vaccinated Bukit Merah View residents
UPDATE: This story was updated at 3.45pm on 28 June 2021 to reflect Bukit Batok Driving Centre's updated entry policy for customers living in the Bukit Merah View area
SINGAPORE — The Bukit Batok Driving Centre (BBDC) has updated its entry regulations for customers living in the Bukit Merah View vicinity, stating that those who have been fully vaccinated will be allowed to continue with their lessons from Tuesday (29 June).
BBDC announced this in a notice posted on its website on Monday, which also stated that the Bukit Merah cluster of COVID-19 cases had "stabilised over the past two days".
It added that the new rule is "in line with our progressive safe management measures".
"Before SafeEntry into our premises, customers/visitors are required to produce proof of vaccination to our Safe Management Officer," said the notice.
Last Thursday, BBDC said it would be temporarily barring entry to customers who reside in Bukit Merah View area from Monday. It also urged affected customers to cancel their existing lessons and warned that there would be no refunds for those who were denied entry to the centre.
Given the high volume of calls expected, BBDC said that affected customers should monitor its website for the latest information on when they would be allowed to attend lessons again.
Those who are due to take their practical or theory tests have also been advised to not cancel their tests and that BBDC would be contacting them soon.
In its update on Monday, the centre said that affected customers were advised to cancel upcoming lessons at least 48 hours ahead, the cost for which would be fully refunded to their BBDC accounts.
"(We) would like to clarify that BBDC treat (sic) all customers equally regardless of their area of residential (sic). The measures implemented were temporary and were part of our social responsibility and to safeguard the wellbeing of the community in minimising the transmission of the virus," said the centre.
Affected student
Tiong Bahru resident Alvin Yeo told Yahoo News Singapore that his 19-year-old son had already booked driving lessons at BBDC about one or two months in advance and that any cancellation meant that the teenager would be able to resume lessons only in October.
"He would have started school by then," said the 50-year-old realtor.
"If the centre is concerned, they should set up pre-entry test and let the student decide if they want to pay for it. They should also take into account their customer’s vaccination history," added Yeo.
He also suggested that customers entering BBDC could be asked if they have received any Ministry of Health (MOH) alerts about having close contact with an infected person and be made to sign a declaration.
"And I would assume they have TraceTogether (for contact tracing) and temperature taking at the entry point," said Yeo.
In May this year, the MOH and the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office (SNDGO) issued a joint statement saying that businesses should not use TraceTogether records on the app to deny users access to their premises. The statement came after reports of businesses turning away visitors and customers whose TraceTogether records indicated that they had been in close proximity to COVID-19 cases.
Yahoo News Singapore has reached out to MOH for comment.
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