Pre-Event Testing for church services: More details given by MCCY
Salt&Light // June 11, 2021, 5:16 pm
Pre-Event Testing will be required for attendees of church services that exceed 50 people, up to a maximum of 250. Photo from Ministry of Health.
Churches which intend to take in more than 50 attendees – up to 250 – at its worship services from June 14 would have to conduct pre-event testing for all its attendees, the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced yesterday (June 10) as part of Singapore’s Phase 3 (Heightened Alert) measures.
On Friday (June 11), the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) further clarified in a press release what is required for pre-event testing at religious organisations from next week onwards.
All worshippers attending services beyond 50 people would need to produce a negative Covid-19 test result notice, vaccination notice or exemption notice, with the necessary validity period. Worshippers who have been vaccinated or have an exemption notice do not need to go for pre-event testing.
For those who are submitting a Covid-19 test result notice, the test must be an MOH-approved Covid-19 test – – either an Antigen Rapid Test (ART) or Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test – administered by an approved test provider.
All worshippers attending services beyond 50 people must produce a negative Covid-19 test result notice, vaccination notice or exemption notice.
The test results are only valid for 24 hours from the time an individual registers at the testing premises to take the test. The church must ensure that the result of the test is valid until the end of the worshipper’s participation in the worship service.
Proof of the test result can come in the form of either:
1) Check-in Successful banner (displayed on the SafeEntry (Business) application upon scanning with TraceTogether App/Token),
2) Covid-19 Test Result Notice (ART),
3) Covid-19 Test Result Notice (PCR), or
4) Patient Risk Profile Portal (PRPP) ART Result Slip.
Other worshippers who are either vaccinated or exempted must produce their vaccination or exemption notice – required to be valid until the end of the worshipper’s participation in the service – before being admitted into the venue where the service is being held.
If pre-event testing is required for a service, the churches must prominently display signs at each point of entry and exit (including emergency exit) to the venue where the service is being held. This should indicate that the space is a restricted place by marking the boundaries of the restricted place though fencing, rope, signs, walls, partition or screens.
Worshippers who do not produce the relevant negative Covid-19 test result notice, vaccination notice, or exemption notice with the necessary validity period will be denied entry into the venue where the service is being held.
As stipulated before, MCCY said worshippers need to be seated in zones of 50 people and they may worship in groups of up to 5 persons. Up to 10 persons on stage can be unmasked at any time and up to 5 people on stage can sing unmasked.
No congregational singing is allowed, even with masks on.
Other church activities can proceed, up to a maximum 50 people for each activity and a total venue capacity of 150 people.
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