Man holding a plastic cup of bubble/boba matcha green tea and Thai tea with brown sugar and topped with cheese cream. (PHOTO: Getty Images)

SINGAPORE — From bubble tea shops to cake shops - these standalone food & beverage businesses considered as less critical will be not allowed to open from Tuesday 2359 hrs as part of stricter circuit breaker measures.

The Ministry of Trade and industry on Tuesday (21 April) unveiled an updated list of businesses that are allowed to operate or have to close during the circuit breaker period.

Earlier Tuesday, the Multi-Ministry Taskforce announced that fewer businesses will be permitted to operate during the circuit breaker period, which has been extended by four weeks to end on 1 June from 7 May.

The operations of less critical consumer services will be suspended with effect from Tuesday 2359 hrs until at least 4 May.

Within the F&B sector, standalone outlets - excluding those in hawker centres, food courts and coffeeshops - that sell only beverages, packaged snacks, confectioneries or desserts will be required to close their outlets. All other F&B outlets that sell meals can continue to remain open for takeaway and delivery services only.

Hairdressing and barber services will be required to close their outlets.

The list of activities that will be allowed to continue to operate will be updated at https://covid.gobusiness.gov.sg/essentialservices.

There will be additional restrictions on selected consumer-facing businesses to further reduce customer interactions with effect from Tuesday 2359 hrs.

For example, optician shops can operate by appointment only, and can no longer accept walk-in customers. Pet supplies stores and retail laundry services must close their physical stores, but are permitted to provide online sales and delivery.

Meanwhile, temperature screening will be conducted at all supermarkets and malls with effect from Wednesday. Patrons visiting popular malls and supermarkets will be required to furnish their particulars for contact tracing.

The authorities will also reduce the number of businesses allowed to operate at their work premises, especially businesses that are less critical for daily living or to maintain essential supply chains.

This will mean that some businesses which are currently permitted to operate at their work premises will be required to suspend their on-site activities. The affected businesses will be notified by the MTI and will have 24 hours upon notification to wind down their business operations completely.

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