Certain businesses will be allowed to reopen from May 12 as Singapore starts easing circuit breaker measures slowly, the COVID-19 multi-ministry task force announced on Saturday (May 2).

These include barbers, home-based food businesses, laundry services, selected food retail outlets, and food manufacturing firms, according to media reports.

From May 19, schools will also start to hold face-to-face lessons in small groups. The focus will be placed on students taking national exams this year, with priority given to those who need to use school facilities for their coursework and those in need of support during the May school holidays.

On the other hand, registered Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners will be allowed to operate their acupuncture and retail services from May 5.

The latest relaxed measures comes as the number of COVID-19 cases among the community have decreased daily. However, the rest of the circuit breaker measures will remain in place until Jun 1.

“New clusters can form if we let our guards down. We must press on with our efforts, so that we continue to keep the numbers low,” Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong said.