Mandatory TraceTogether check-ins at venues brought forward to 17 May
SINGAPORE – The mandatory use of TraceTogether-only Safe Entry (TT-only SE) will be brought forward to 17 May across all venues that experience a higher throughput of visitors or where persons are likely to be in close proximity for prolonged periods.
It was previously announced that this measure would start on 1 June.
In a press release on Tuesday (4 May), the Ministry of Health (MOH) said that this means the scanning of SE-QR codes with a phone camera and Singpass app will be discontinued from 17 May. "To ease the transition, ID check-ins will be retained until 31 May 2021," it added.
In its own statement, the Smart Nation and Digital Government Group (SNDGG) said, "This move is to achieve greater coverage and active participation in the TT programme, especially for venues or settings where community spread is most likely to occur. This will strengthen digital contact tracing and help us better manage the recent rise in community cases, some of which are currently unlinked and have resulted in the formation of community clusters."
With the nationwide implementation of TT-only SE, SE check-in must be performed using a TT app or token by:
using one’s TT app to scan the venue’s QR code;
or displaying one’s TT token so that a venue staff can scan the TT token’s QR code;
or tapping one’s TT app or TT token at a SafeEntry Gateway device.
The full list of TT-only SE venues can be found on the SE website.
More venues to have SafeEntry Gateway
Additionally, the SafeEntry Gateway will be required to be deployed at more venues from 15 June.
These are public-facing venues where people are likely to be in contact for prolonged periods, such as food and beverage dine-in outlets, hotels, and sports and fitness centres.
Together, the TT programme and SE help contact tracers to quickly identify and isolate close contacts of COVID-19 cases, the SNDGG said.
"While TT data identifies an initial list of close contacts, SE data provides the list of places visited by COVID-19 cases to help our contact tracers establish cluster links," it said. "The combined use of these digital tools has enabled us to reduce the average time taken to contact trace from four days to less than 1.5 days."
To date, more than 90 per cent of the population have either downloaded the TT app and/or collected the TT token.
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