Contact Tracing Support

1. SafeEntry

SafeEntry is the name of the national digital visitor registration system that logs the details and contact information of individuals visiting hotspots, workplaces of permitted enterprises, as well as selected public venues to prevent and control the transmission of COVID-19.

To check-in to SafeEntry, visitors scan a QR code using their TraceTogether App, SingPass Mobile app, or other QR code apps, or present their TraceTogether Token or NRIC/FIN/other IDs to be scanned. By doing so, users give consent to share their name and contact information with the businesses, and make the necessary declaration required. Using this system allows businesses to verify user identity with data from Government sources to facilitate their contact tracing work should the need arise.

SafeEntry by any of the methods above is presently regarded as the appropriate procedure and control that enables or facilitates contract tracing for the purpose of meeting the safe management meaures required by the law.

All businesses and services that are in operation (including offices, factories, etc) must institute SafeEntry for their employees, associates, visitors and vendors. For large office buildings that have multiple floors and/or house different business entities, check-in is required for each business entity and at each floor. Businesses and building owners who wish to find out more can click here.

Of the businesses/services that are allowed to be in operation, the following list of facilities/places are also required to deploy the SafeEntry system to log the check-in of customers, clients, students and visitors entering their premises in order to meet the safe management measures required by the law¹.

• Construction and marine process worksites
• Schools and educational institutes
• Preschools and student care centres
• Healthcare facilities e.g. hospitals, clinics, TCM clinics, complementary healthcare facilities
• Residential and community-based care facilities e.g. nursing homes, Senior Activity Centres, Senior Care Centres, Day Activity Centres for Persons with Disabilities
• Places of worship
• Funeral parlours
• Funerary memorial events
• Solemnisations and weddings
• Hotels
• Country and recreation clubs, and registered premises of other member clubs/societies
• Banks and financial institutions
• Retail, personal and food & beverage (F&B) services a. Malls b. Supermarkets c. Selected popular wet markets (Geylang Serai Market, Block 104 / 105 Yishun Ring Road (Chong Pang Market), Block 20/21 Marsiling Lane, and Block 505 Jurong West Street 52) d. F&B outlets for dine-in customers e. Large retail outlets (> 930 sqm or 10,000 sqft) f. Personal care services e.g. hairdressers / barbers, spas, beauty and wellness centres g. Facilities providing basic pet services (that do not function on a drop-off, pick-up basis)
• Tuition and enrichment, training centres, and other training/ class venues a. Outdoor exercise classes b. Sports and fitness centres, including gyms, studios
• Cultural and entertainment venues a. Libraries b. Museums, exhibitions, and showrooms c. Cinemas, attractions d. Other entertainment venues: Amusement centres, computer game centres, board game centres, billiard saloons, paintball game centres, axe-throwing centres
• Event venues e.g. function halls/ rooms, event lawns

For contact tracing efforts involving street-hail trips, all commuters who get onto the taxi should scan the SafeEntry QR codes deployed in taxis when taking street-hail trips.

Retail outlets where customers are unlikely to be in close proximity for a prolonged period of time, such as pharmacies, convenience stores and heartland provision shops, are encouraged, but not required, to implement SafeEntry for customers.

For avoidance of doubt, all permitted enterprises, including retail outlets, must still implement SafeEntry for employees, associates and vendors as per all workplaces, and adhere strictly to the other safe management measures, e.g. safe distancing.

Please note that the methods for SafeEntry can and will change depending on the state of affairs in Singapore in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Permitted enterprises are advised to stand ready to adapt entry arrangements to their premises to new methods if they want to be confident in meeting statutory requirements.

SafeEntry via TraceTogether only (or TraceTogether-only SafeEntry) is a new protocol consisting of check-ins only through the use of the TraceTogether App or Token and is being planned for roll-out soon.

When TraceTogether-only SafeEntry is rolled out nationwide, supermarkets and retail outlets (regardless of size) that are fully within malls and buildings covered by TraceTogether-only SafeEntry and have the same operating hours will no longer be required to implement SafeEntry nor TraceTogether-only SafeEntry for customers, clients and visitors.

2. TraceTogether-only SafeEntry

TraceTogether-only SafeEntry consists of a protocol where visitors scan a QR code using their TraceTogether App or present their TraceTogether Token to be scanned in order to register a SafeEntry check-in. When TraceTogether-only SafeEntry is implemented, check-in using SingPass Mobile and QR code reader mobile applications will no longer be accepted. For individuals entering premises where TraceTogether-only SafeEntry is implemented as a safe management measure, the individuals have to use either their TraceTogether App or TraceTogether Token, and not any other method, to check in to the venue’s SafeEntry system.

Permitted enterprises are advised to make the necessary preparations to accept TraceTogether Token check-ins. To learn more, please visit here.

3. TraceTogether

The TraceTogether programme is a programme to enhance Singapore’s efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 through community-driven contact tracing.

Both the TraceTogether App and the TraceTogether Token work by exchanging short-distance Bluetooth signals between other nearby TraceTogether devices. The TraceTogether devices estimate the distance between users, and the duration of such encounters. Records of these encounters are stored locally, in encrypted form for 25 days (covering the incubation period of the virus as well as time taken for individuals to seek treatment and to be tested for COVID-19), after which it is automatically deleted.

If a user is interviewed by a contact tracer for activity mapping, he can authorise the uploading of his TraceTogether data to Ministry of Health (MOH). MOH will then decipher the data and get the mobile numbers of the user’s close contacts within a period of time. This facilitates the contact tracing process, and enables contact tracers to inform close contacts of confirmed cases more expeditiously.

To learn more about the TraceTogether programme, visit here.