Following the release of the Safe Management Measures for Sport and Physical Exercise & Activity following Mid-Point review of Phase 2 (Heightened Alert), Singapore Gymnastics (SG) has since updated our sport-specific guidelines to be in line with the new government measures and it has been approved by SportSG.
For the full Gymnastics-specific safe management measures guidelines updated and approved as of 10 August 2021, the document can also be found on our SG website via https://www.singaporegymnastics.org.sg/covid-19-advisory/sport-specific-guidelines/
The important notes from 10 August 2021 onwards:
- From 15 July to 30 September 2021, the FET is mandatory for the following workforce and the frequency of the FET shall be once every 14 days:
- Gyms and fitness studios coaches / trainers / instructors where clients are engaged in unmasked activities
- Sport coaches / instructors in sports such as, but not limited to athletics, badminton, basketball, dance, football, swimming, martial art, etc., where trainees are unmasked. More details on FET for sport and fitness sector is available here.
- From 1 October 2021, the above mentioned workforce involved in high-risk settings that interact with unmasked clients will be required to be vaccinated. Any unvaccinated workers will have to be tested with an ART kit twice a week. For the small group that remains medically ineligible for vaccines, the government will subsidise their tests.
- Club owner/operators are advised to determine if they will be able to effectively implement vaccination-differentiated SMMs (VDS) at their indoor facilities. Facilities that do not implement checks on vaccination status will not be allowed to conduct unmasked indoor activities. These facilities may only continue to conduct indoor masked activities.
- All Clubs offering unmasked classes and/or classes where “common equipment” is being used will be required to implement a VDS.
- Club owner/operators that implement VDS are responsible for conducting checks on the vaccination status of all staff and participants.
- Beyond the usual screening measures such as TraceTogether-only SafeEntry (TT-only SE), SafeEntry Gateway (SEGW) check-in & check-out and temperature checks, it must be ensured that every person who enters the premises have their vaccination status checked and recorded manually or electronically.
- Persons who do not have their vaccination status verified must be denied participation in indoor unmasked activities. Proper checking protocol are to be set up at the access control points.
- Indoor unmasked activities for fully vaccinated individuals must be catered for in clearly demarcated spaces away from other users.
- Vaccinated individuals who participate in such activities must not mix with other users for the entire time they are within the facilities (including in common areas such as changing rooms and toilets). In such situations, the individuals from different categories should be clearly marked by use of coloured wrist tags or passes or some other form of differentiating identification.
- All indoor premises should refer to the latest guidance on improving ventilation and indoor air quality in buildings amid the COVID-19 situation, available at: https://go.gov.sg/bca-circular-improving-ventilation-iaq
- There must be clear segregation between bubbles and no intermingling can occur between bubbles and/or classes before, during and after the class, and bubbles must always remain 3 metres apart during the class.
- Club owner/operators are to maintain a complete set of data that clearly records how all participants are segregated into their bubbles. Recent cases have revealed that club owners/operators and coaches have not been able to provide the required information, hampering contact tracing by the authorities.
- It is also the statutory responsibility of Club owner/operators to ensure that all participants are properly checked in by TraceTogether-only SafeEntry (TT-only SE) or SafeEntry Gateway (SEGW).
- With the introduction of a vaccination-differentiated approach when adjusting our safe management measures. Fully vaccinated individuals, who have good protection against the risk of infection or severe illnesses, will be able to engage in a wider range of activities, including high-risk settings involving unmasked sport/exercise activity that take place indoors. An individual is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after he or she has received two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech/ Comirnaty, Moderna, or any WHO EUL vaccines
- Unvaccinated individuals with a valid negative result on a Pre-Event Test taken within the past 24 hours at an MOH-approved medical service provider before the expected end of the class/programme/event, or recovered COVID-19 individuals, are of similarly lower risk, and may also join in the group of fully vaccinated individuals.
More information on the Safe Management Measures for Sport and Physical Exercise & Activity following Mid-Point review of Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) as well as an FAQ can be found at https://www.sportsingapore.gov.sg/Newsroom/Media-Releases/2021/August/Safe-Management-Measures-for-Sport-and-Physical-Exercise-,-a-,-Activity