SINGAPORE — A total of 153 stern warnings were issued on the third day of the circuit breaker to members of the public and non-essential shop owners for flouting stricter safe distancing measures to curb the spread of the Covid-19 disease.

The Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) said in a media release on Thursday (April 9) that starting Friday, it will put in place crowd management measures at 40 popular markets which draw crowds.

These markets include: Tiong Bahru Market, Tanglin Halt Market and Geylang Serai Market.

MEWR said that the Singapore Police Force has been conducting joint operations to patrol areas where people were observed loitering and sitting around at Yishun, Toa Payoh West, Haig Road and Boon Lay Food Centre.

The ministry said that since Tuesday, which marked the start of the 28-day circuit breaker, a total of 158 stern warnings have been issued.

In several cases, police assistance was required as members of the public “were not cooperative when asked to leave”, said MEWR, who warned that firm action will be taken for non-compliance.

It said that stern written warnings will be given to first-time offenders, and anyone who commits a second offence will be fined S$300, while a third offence will lead to the person being charged in court.

From April 7 to May 4, most workplaces have to shut unless they deal with essential services, in order to arrest the spread of the coronavirus causing Covid-19.

Despite this, MEWR said that 7,000 non-essential shops had to be closed by the Housing and Development Board since Tuesday, including 150 on Thursday. Stern warnings were issued to the owners.

In a Facebook post on Thursday evening, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli said that with the long weekend coming, he was concerned that “our old habits will get the better of us”.

“I therefore urge everyone to continue to be understanding, abide by measures and remind those around us to do the same: Stay Home! This is critical to the containment of Covid-19.”

BUBBLE TEA CHAIN FINED FOR NOT ENFORCING SAFE DISTANCING MEASURES

Separately, the Enterprise Singapore (ESG) said in a joint statement with the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) on Thursday that 85 businesses have been instructed to cease operations following enforcement checks by both agencies over Wednesday and Thursday.

The statement said that this comprised businesses that either remained open despite providing non-essential services, or providing essential services, but failing to enforce the safe distancing measures properly.

The agencies have issued the first fine to an establishment. Taiwanese bubble tea brand Playmade at Waterway Point was slapped with a S$1,000 composition fine for failing to enforce the safe distancing measures properly, despite repeated warnings, said the statement.

“The outlet had failed to implement a crowd management system and allowed customers to crowd together without 1m spacing between one another,” read the statement.

It added that if the outlet continues to flout the rules, it will face higher fines and can be charged in court.

ESG and STB said that since Tuesday, they have conducted daily surveillance on over 15,200 businesses during the “circuit-breaker” period.

ESG has checked on about 12,200 F&B and retail establishments across 88 shopping malls, while STB checked on more than 3,000 tourism-related establishments in areas such as Chinatown, Little India and Orchard Road.

The agencies, who will continue with enforcement checks over the weekend and holidays, acknowledged that a majority of these establishments were compliant with the elevated safe distancing measures

They warned that non-compliant business owners are liable to be punished under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act which was passed on Tuesday.

First-time offenders will face a fine of up to S$10,000, imprisonment of up to six months, or both.