Single check-in with TraceTogether app, token will suffice in future

The inconvenience of checking in and out with SafeEntry at different stores within a shopping centre will be a thing of the past once compulsory TraceTogether-only SafeEntry kicks in.

A single check-in with the TraceTogether app or token at public venues such as malls will suffice in the future, according to a written parliamentary reply on Monday.

Currently, people who visit public places with high visitor traffic or a high transmission risk of Covid-19 - malls, dine-in eateries and workplaces, for example - must check in using SafeEntry or TraceTogether for contact tracing purposes in the event of a detected coronavirus case.

They have to check in again when entering other places within the venue, such as large shops or supermarkets in a mall.

Check-ins using TraceTogether is not mandatory for now. But checking in at individual places in the venue will not be needed if a customer checks in using TraceTogether-only SafeEntry in the future.

Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean said in a written parliamentary reply to Mr Leon Perera (Aljunied) that with better TraceTogether coverage after the implementation of TraceTogether-only SafeEntry at public places, "we will also remove some existing SafeEntry check-ins to minimise public inconvenience".

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But there are exceptions.

Regardless of prior check-ins, patrons must still check in with TraceTogether-only SafeEntry at establishments where the transmission risk is higher. This is because people may be in close proximity for long periods of time, or may remove their masks for legitimate reasons, like to exercise in a gym or eat at a food and beverage outlet, said Mr Teo, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security.

More than 80 per cent of the population has downloaded the TraceTogether app or collected the token.

On Monday, Mr Teo said the Government estimates that more than half of the 40,000 public venues where SafeEntry is now mandatory have begun accepting TraceTogether token check-ins and are also ready to implement TraceTogether-only SafeEntry.