With effect from April 7 to May 4, Singapore is on a ‘soft lockdown’.
Dubbed a “circuit breaker”, non-essential businesses are forced to temporarily close, employees are mandated to work from home, and citizens are also strongly urged to stay at home to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Being stuck at home for a month can definitely make you feel like you are living in a bubble, but that does not mean that we should be kept out of the loop.
Here are 12 websites and apps you can follow to seek useful information amid this outbreak:
1. Gov.sg – Official Announcements From The Govt
On this official website of the Singapore Government, you can find everything you need to know, such as Stay-Home Notice announcements, travel restrictions and social distancing measures.
They have recently launched two new media platforms — Gov.sg Telegram and Twitter — to complement its Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp platforms.
The Gov.sg WhatsApp channel pushes out daily updates on the Covid-19 situation in Singapore’s four official languages. In a span of 10 weeks, the channel has grown exponentially from 7,000 to over 900,000 subscribers.
For timely updates, follow Gov.sg on their Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, WhatsApp And Twitter channels.
2. MaskGoWhere – Find Out Where To Collect Masks
Knowing where to collect your mask(s) is as easy as simply keying in your postal code to find out details of your mask collection point.
Last Friday (April 3), the Government announced that it will distribute reusable masks to Singapore residents between April 5 and 12. This website conveniently tells you the timing and venue of the mask collection.
To find out where to collect your mask(s), head over to maskgowhere.sg.
3. COVID-19 Online Symptom Checker
If you suspect that you have Covid-19 or have flu-like symptoms, don’t fly into a panic and rush to the nearest clinic.
Use this Online Symptom Checker instead to run a quick self-check and get basic advice.
It will ask you a series of questions to determine whether you should consult a doctor or monitor your symptoms for a few more days. It also provides information on where you can seek medical attention.
Do a self-check at sgcovidcheck.com if you think you have Covid-19 symptoms.
4. TraceTogether App – Make Contact Tracing Easier
Contact tracing involves interviewing Covid-19 infected patients and asking them to recall every place they have been to and every person they have came into contact with in the past 14 days.
More often than not, they may not be able to recall every single meeting, encounter or place they have been to.
TraceTogether helps to make the jobs of contact tracers easier by using Bluetooth signals between phones to identify other users who also have the app installed, allowing it to track encounters and timestamps whenever users come into close proximity with one another.
You just to make sure that your phone’s Bluetooth function is always turned on!
Download the TraceTogether app.
5. SG United Jobs Portal – Find Short-Term Jobs Until April 12
If you are looking to find an immediate short-term job during this difficult period, you may sign up for the virtual career fair, SGUnited Jobs.
There are over 2,200 temporary jobs available immediately for people who urgently need income to tide them over for the next few months.
As part of the Resilience Budget, the government is working to create more jobs for people who have lost their jobs and other workers who have their income affected by the current Covid-19 situation, as well as match them to jobs available.
Stay informed about new job openings via sgunited.gov.sg.
6. Space Out – Check How Crowded The Mall, Supermarket or Post Office Is Before You Go
In a bid to help people decide if they want to head out to the shopping mall to buy essential goods or services, the government has created a website called Space Out to help people check the crowd levels at malls at different times of the day. They have even extended the website to cover supermarkets and post offices.
The website, which is essentially an interactive map of Singapore, colour codes malls, supermarkets and post offices according to current crowd levels. It also has the ability to show you the trends according to each day and the time of the day.
It will be easier for you to practise safe distancing, and also ease the pressure on the mall operators, supermarkets and post offices in terms of crowd management.
Check on crowd levels at the shopping malls via spaceout.gov.sg.
7. Safe Distance @ Parks – Check How Crowded The Park Is Before You Go
Another initiative by the Government, Safe Distance @ Parks helps you see how crowded the parks are before you decide whether to go out.
In case you don’t already know, you are allowed to visit parks to do your exercise, since gyms, swimming pools and other workout venues have been temporarily closed as part of the circuit breaker measures.
The map also colour codes parks according to their current crowd levels. Before you decide to head out to any of the parks, it allows you to avoid crowded ones so you can practise safe social distancing measures.
Check the crowd levels at the parks via safedistparks.nparks.gov.sg/ .
8. go business – Businesses to apply exemption for circuit breaker period
If you have a business that has been affected by the circuit breaker measures, you can apply at GoBusiness to continue your operations during the suspension period, on certain circumstances.
There are two types of exemption – General and Time-Limited.
General Exemption is for companies which are seeking to continue their operations during the circuit breaker period. This is only applicable for critical functions and their supporting functions.
The Time-Limited exemption is for businesses which would like to activate a small number of employees to work at the business premises and/or designated locations for short periods of time (i.e. less than a day). This applies only to temporary but critical needs within your company.
Businesses can apply for exemption at covid.gobusiness.gov.sg if they need to.
9. PHPC Finder – Find a Public Health Preparedness Clinic Near You
Do you know that if you are a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident, you get to enjoy special subsidies if you visit a Public Health Preparedness Clinic (PHPC) and are diagnosed with respiratory illnesses such as a common cold?
There are a total of 942 participating clinics, and you can simply key in your postal code to find an eligible clinic near you.
Find a PHPC clinic near you at flugowhere.gov.sg.
10. Support Go Where – Find Eligible Grants And Funds
This new initiative is set to help all groups of people, from Singaporeans and Permanent Residents to work pass holders, find the relevant financial support to tide them over this difficult period.
Supportgowhere.gov.sg lists all the available monetary support packages that can help people who have lost their jobs, lost their income, or struggle with additional caregiving duties and expenses for essential items.
Where applications are needed, it also provides links where you can apply online.
Find out what grants you are eligible for and where to apply at supportgowhere.gov.sg.
11. DoctorxDentist – Have Your Medical Queries Answered
Need Covid-19 guidance? Or want to get a treatment quotation? It’s free.
DoctorxDentist acts like a forum where there is a panel of specialists to answer your burning medical questions.
Questions can be related to Covid-19, cancer, surgical oncology, lung health, cosmetic dentistry, dental health, colorectal surgery, gynaecology, neurology, eye health and so on.
You can also browse through their health guides or find a doctor in Singapore according to their specialisation (there are over 10,000 doctors in the current database).
Get free online care in the time of Covid-19 at https://www.doctorxdentist.com/
12. ‘I am a CCB’ – If You Are Bored At Home And Need Ideas
With 30 days of being stuck at home, you will eventually run out of things to do.
“I am a CCB”, which essentially means “I am a Community Circuit Breaker”, is a website that offers Singaporeans everyday ideas on how to make the best use of their time while under lockdown.
You can find links to food delivery services, online bookstores, job portals, dining/shopping promo codes, free work-out apps and also to a platform to anonymously report people flouting the ‘Circuit Breaker’.
They also have their own Google Maps-powered app called Crowdy that tells you which supermarkets near you that are not crowded!
Get some ideas on what to do when you are bored at https://iamaccb.sg/
Featured Image Credit: TraceTogether / Space Out / MaskGoWhere