Image Credit: Lawrence Wong Facebook Page
TraceTogether tokens will be distributed nationwide from next Monday (Sept 14), starting in the Jalan Besar and Tanjong Pagar districts, as Singapore ramps up its contact tracing efforts.
Minister-in-charge of the Smart Nation Initiative Vivian Balakrishnan says these areas have a higher proportion of seniors who are more vulnerable to Covid-19 and may have difficulty using the existing TraceTogether app.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) announced yesterday that TraceTogether tokens will be distributed for free nationwide from September 14 till November.
Residents can go to the TokenGoWhere website for more details on the collection sites and timing.
The TraceTogether app has been downloaded 2.4 million times so far, “but we actually still want to push participation in this programme because this is one of those things where the more people we have onboard, the more effective the level of protection afforded to all of us,” he said.
These changes come as Singapore prepares to allow bigger meetings and conferences with up to 250 participants, and will mean that SafeEntry check-in data is supplemented with proximity data from TraceTogether.
In a Facebook post, Minister Lawrence Wong said that this pilot scheme will gradually be expanded to more venues.
“Especially in settings where there are large groups of people, close interactions, and where masks are not worn eg. hotels (wedding functions), F&B outlets, cinemas, gyms and certain workplaces,” he added.
Separately, the authorities will also be introducing a self-check and text message service from 10 September.
This includes dining places and gyms where people do not wear masks for extended periods.
“These features will help everyone to play their part to stay ahead of the pandemic, and keep ourselves and our loved ones safe,” MOH said.
