GEIS-新闻详情

More people return to the office, fewer temperature checks as S’pore further eases Covid-19 curbs

2021-08-19 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-新加坡原网页

SINGAPORE - Lawyer Crystal Tan usually gets a seat when she boards the train on the North-South Line to the city at 8.30am, but on Thursday (Aug 19), most of the seats were taken.

Alighting at Raffles Place, Ms Tan, 32, said: "There was quite a significant number of people on the train today. Usually, there will be a lot of seats around, but today most of the seats were filled up."

On Thursday, companies were allowed to bring more staff back to the office, with the easing of Covid-19 restrictions in Singapore.

Up to 50 per cent of employees are now allowed back to the office. This has not been the case since May 8, when firms switched largely to getting people to work from home in line with safe management measures.

Mr Ramadass Deenathayalu, 51, who works at Raffles Place, said his company prefers employees to work from home, but he enjoys working from the office.

"When we work at home, we unknowingly work longer hours. It's not healthy and it's bad for psychological health. We are away from social connections when we work from home. It's better to go out and work with people," said the manager in the software industry.

"I'm looking forward to have more human connections and interactions since more people are allowed to go back to office now."

Across the island, people were walking into malls and buildings without temperature screening - a requirement that was lifted on Thursday.

But some places ST visited were still conducting such checks, saying they would phase it out in the days to come.

At Ang Mo Kio Hub and Junction 8, shoppers did not need to take their temperatures, with TraceTogether check-ins sufficient to allow entry.

But eight out of the 13 eateries that ST visited in the two malls were still conducting temperature screening.

Ms Janet Ong, 52, had her temperature screened before she could have breakfast at Toast Box in Ang Mo Kio Hub on Thursday morning.

She said it was good for eateries to screen temperatures as vaccinated individuals could still be infected.

"I take my children to dine out too and I want to make sure they are all safe from the virus," said the sales assistant.

A customer has his temperature checked at a McDonald's outlet at Ang Mo Kio Hub on Aug 19, 2021. ST PHOTO: WONG YANG

A spokesman for Frasers Property Retail previously said all 14 malls it manages will stop conducting temperature screening for visitors from Aug 19, but staff will continue to be deployed to facilitate contact tracing.

ST understands that screeners at the 17 malls managed by Far East Organization will also be retained to ensure shoppers, employees and tenants comply with TraceTogether check-ins.

ST also visited Yio Chu Kang Sport Hall and the ActiveSG Gym nearby, both of which were still conducting temperature checks as well.

Temperature checks were still being conducted at the Yio Chu Kang ActiveSG Gym on Aug 19, 2021. ST PHOTO: WONG YANG