From Monday, F&B personnel must wear masks or face fines, licence suspension

This article is more than 12 months old

Apr 11, 2020 02:33 pm

From Monday (April 13), all personnel engaged in the preparation or sale of food and beverages must wear masks or face shields while working, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said in a media release on Saturday.

Those who do not comply with the requirement could be fined up to $5,000 and/or have their licences cancelled or suspended.

Operators of food and beverage establishments have been urged to wear masks or face shields since last Monday (April 6). During a virtual press conference on Thursday, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said that "very soon", all food handlers will be required to wear masks.

This helps to protect them against possible transmission of Covid-19 from others, and also prevents transmission to others should they be infected but are asymptomatic.

The ruling will affect personnel at all F&B establishments such as hawker centre stalls, coffee shops, restaurants, supermarkets and caterers.

Supermarket chain NTUC Fairprice has been urging its shoppers to wear masks during their grocery runs, and has stipulated that all its staff must wear masks when working.