Yahoo News Singapore | 24 April 2020 | Staff Writer Singapore
SINGAPORE — Popular baking supplies chain Phoon Huat said it will limit entry to its and RedMan shops based on National Registration Identification Card (NRIC) or Foreign Identification Number (FIN) numbers starting from Saturday (25 April) amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a post on its Facebook page on Friday, Phoon Huat said entry by customers to its shops will be based on odd or even dates depending on the last digits of their NRIC and FIN numbers.
The announcement comes after the National Environment Agency (NEA) said on Tuesday that it would restrict access to four popular markets based on NRIC/FIN numbers from Wednesday: Geylang Serai Market, Block 104/105 Yishun Ring Road (Chong Pang Market), Block 20/21 Marsiling Lane, and Block 505 Jurong West Street 52. The NEA noted that long queues were still seen at these markets over the last weekend.
Patrons with an even last digit (0, 2, 4, 6, 8) in their NRIC/FIN numbers can only visit these markets on the even dates of the month, and those with an odd last digit (1, 3, 5, 7,9) can only visit these markets on the odd dates of the month.
Phoon Huat also outlined several other additional measures to limit the entry of its customers.
Among them, customers have to fill a health declaration form before entry. Phoon Huat is also limiting shopping time to 10 minutes. Customers have to use contactless payment and those who insist on paying by cash will be offered plastic bags in place of change.
On Thursday, Enterprise Singapore (ESG) dispelled a rumour circulating online which claimed that a list of supermarkets have been added to the list of wet markets where access is restricted based on NRIC/FIN numbers.
“The supermarkets and malls listed were identified as high traffic stores which are required to gather contact details of customers for contact tracing, where practicable. This is to safeguard the well-being of customers and supermarket staff,” ESG said in a post on Facebook.
ESG announced on Tuesday that a total of 16 malls with supermarkets in them and four other non-mall supermarkets with high traffic have been urged to conduct contact tracing of customers.
