COVID-19: About 25 nightspots to reopen under pilot scheme; business body urges others to pivot or exit

SINGAPORE: About 25 nightlife establishments will be allowed to reopen as part of a pilot programme, said the Singapore Nightlife Business Association (SNBA) on Monday (Nov 9) as it urged those that continue to struggle with the prolonged closure to look at pivoting or exiting operations.

Apart from the “limited” vacancies, the pilot scheme announced by authorities last Friday requires nightlife venue operators to adhere to COVID-19 safety measures, and will last for only two to three months depending on the type of business, said the association.

READ: Some nightlife businesses allowed to reopen with COVID-19 safety measures under pilot programme
The announcement of a pilot programme for a “small number” of nightlife businesses to reopen comes after almost eight months of closure for some pubs and bars without food licences, karaoke joints, nightclubs and discotheques.

These nightlife spots have not been allowed to reopen even as COVID-19 restrictions were eased gradually since June.

SAFETY MEASURES

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Some of the safety measures include opening nightclubs and karaoke lounges to only residents and those with work passes, as well as those who have done COVID-19 tests in the past 24 hours, said SNBA at a press conference on Monday to provide more details about the pilot programme.

For karaoke lounges, groups of up to five people must be within enclosed rooms for singing. Rooms will have to be cleaned and disinfected after every use.

SNBA also said nightclubs that reopen under the pilot scheme will have a capacity limit of up to 100 people across two zones. Each zone, which can each hold 50 people, can have dining and dancing areas but they must be kept separate. No live entertainment and performances will be allowed.

These safety measures are not final and may be refined before the pilots start, said SNBA in its presentation slides.

"It is important they understand that the pilots are very limited, very onerous I would say (as) there are stringent requirements to adhere to,” the association’s president Joseph Ong told reporters.

As such the industry association is hoping to temper the “excitement” it had seen among industry players eager to reopen their doors.

“There’s been a lot of excitement on the pilots and we hope to explain that (they) are just tests,” said Mr Ong who described the programme as “phase one clinical trials” with small sample sizes and long observational periods.

“So they should not be regarded as an alternative for the operators to reopen. The chances are low that they will be selected, and the trial requires extreme planning and care.”

REOPENING UNDER PILOT SCHEME

SNBA told reporters that the 25 slots available under the pilot scheme could be allocated to 10 pubs and bars, 10 karaoke establishments and five nightclubs.

The trade association, which has about 320 members, said it will be facilitating the application process from pubs, bars and nightclubs together with Singapore River One (SRO).

Applications will open from Wednesday to Sunday, although it said it is in talks with the authorities to extend the deadline to Nov 23.