Everything About the Reopening of the First 3 Pubs / Bars That You Should Know About

While drinking wine alone in your room at 3am has its perks, it can’t compare to a drink at the bar with friends.

Just like leisure travel and KTV sessions, Covid-19 has taken bars away from us, forcing us to be content with drinking with friends at home, which has the ambience of a cupboard.

If you miss paying obscene amounts for drinks and having to shout over ridiculously loud music to talk to your friends, I have good news for you.

Everything About the Reopening of the First 3 Pubs / Bars That You Should Know About

After over 9 months of closure, three bars and pubs will be allowed to reopen for two months under a pilot programme for the nightlife industry.

The three bars are:

• Bar Kiharu at Orchard Plaza (will reopen on Wednesday, from 6.30pm to 10.30pm)
• Bell Bar at Cuppage Plaza (will reopen on Tuesday from 6.30pm to 10.30pm)
• Skinny’s Lounge at Boat Quay (will reopen on Wednesday from 4pm to 10pm)

As you know, bars and other entertainment venues were ordered to shutter in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bars and nightclubs in particular entailed a large number of people coming into close contact for prolonged periods of time, and often in enclosed spaces, which raised the risk of Covid-19 transmission.

In October, the Covid-19 multi-ministry task force said that these venues will not be permitted to reopen “in their original form” for some time, possibly even after the country shifts to Phase 3 of its safe reopening.

But then, a month later, the authorities said a “limited number” of nightlife establishments would be allowed to reopen under a pilot programme.

The pilot will allow the authorities to determine if the safe management measures are sufficient to prevent the spread of infections, and whether nightlife venues can comply with them.

So, why these three bars and pubs?

Well, according to CNA, venues interested in reopening had to submit proposals to the Singapore Nightlife Business Association or the Singapore River One, detailing how they planned to reopen safely. 

These nightlife business associations would then nominate the most suitable outlets for the pilot programme.

Safe Management Measures

Reopening a business these days isn’t as easy as simply opening your doors to the public, especially for a bar, which is considered a high-risk area.

In addition to the safe distancing rules and workplace safe management measures that all businesses have to adhere to, these three nightlife venues must ensure the following:

• that customers, visitors, and workers do not provide or condone hostessing services
• interactions between staff members and customers do not go beyond what’s “ordinarily necessary” to serve food and drinks or to accept payment
•  TraceTogether-only SafeEntry is implemented
• Deploy and activate CCTV cameras at all times, and keep recordings for at least 28 days

These venues should also  “strongly advise’ customers not to visit more than one nightlife establishment per night, so please don’t go bar hopping.

As always, group sizes are restricted to five people and no intermingling is allowed. At least 1m must also be maintained between different groups of customers.

You would have noticed that all three bars close at or before 10.30pm.

This is a bit like a breakfast outlet opening at 4pm, but they’re simply following the rules, as the sale, serving, and consumption of alcohol must cease at 10.30pm.

Even if you have teapots.

Any other forms of public entertainment in the bar, such as live music, radio broadcast, and television, or even darts and pool, will not be allowed.

So in the end, the bar you were dying to go to with your friends might end up having the ambience of a cupboard too.

But hey, at least it’s something, right?

Plus, the pilots for karaoke outlets and nightclubs are expected to start next month, so you can also look forward to that.

Featured Image: joyfull / Shutterstock.com