Optional mask-wearing from Aug 29 as Singapore eases requirements
In a new announcement by the Ministry of Health (MOH), people in Singapore can opt to wear masks on private transport modes such as taxis, school buses, and private bus services, but will be required to do so on public transport services and indoor public transport facilities.
Healthcare facilities, residential care homes, and ambulances will also keep their mask-wearing requirement. These include welfare and sheltered homes for the aged, as well as adult disability homes.
According to Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, masks will not be required at naturally ventilated bus interchanges and in the retail areas of bus interchanges, MRT and LRT stations.
Wong informed that masks were required on public transport and in healthcare facilities as these are “areas where essential services are being carried out in enclosed and crowded spaces, and which are frequently used by vulnerable persons.”
On flights, mask-wearing requirements will depend on the rules or laws in the destination country as well as the carrier, said MOH’s Director of Medical Services, Kenneth Mak: “Where there is a mandatory requirement for masks to be worn […] the mask must be worn on the flight itself.”
However, passengers will not have to do so on flights to or from countries where mask-wearing is not mandatory – as long as the airline does not have such a requirement, he added.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong first announced the easing of Singapore’s mask-wearing requirements in his National Day Rally speech this past Sunday.
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