In his national address on 24th March, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that people can choose not to wear masks when outdoors, while masks will be mandatory indoors. The Singapore government’s decision to opt out of wearing masks outdoors is due to the significantly lower risk of transmission of the virus outdoors.
According to the Singapore Ministry of Health, outdoor areas where masks may not be worn include ground floors of HDB flats, walkways outside HDB retail outlets, bus stops, naturally ventilated bus interchanges, open spaces such as parks, meadows and nature trails, as well as open covered walkways and bridges.
Indoor places where masks are mandatory include office buildings, shopping malls, lifts, buses and MRTs, hawker centres, coffee shops, wet market, HDB retail outlets and other shophouses, as well as inside classrooms and libraries.
Singapore government requires that when masks are not worn, a safe distance rule must be observed, which means that a distance of at least one metre must be kept from other people to ensure that the risk of transmission is minimised.
Would you like to see Malaysia implement the same measure of no-masking outdoors?
