SINGAPORE - Sixteen coffee shop and canteen operators have signed up for the vaccination-differentiated safe management measures (VDS) announced on Sunday (March 6), the Singapore Food Agency said.
Coffee shops and canteens have three options to choose from - area-bound VDS, time-bound VDS, and area and time-bound VDS.
The scheme is for operators to have the option to accommodate groups of up to five fully vaccinated persons to dine-in at their premises, without compromising on the safety of diners.
Coffee shops and canteens that opt for area-bound VDS will have to cordon off a specific area and implement access control and vaccination checks for people who wish to sit in groups of up to five. Beyond the area, only two diners will be allowed at a table and there will be no vaccination checks.
For time-bound VDS, coffee shops and canteens will permit groups of up to five to dine together from 5pm to 10.30pm in the entire premises of the eateries, if similar entry and vaccination status checks are implemented.
Outside of this time period, only up to two diners will be permitted.
For the area-based and time-bound VDS, groups of five diners will be allowed within a cordoned area during the stipulated time of 5pm to 10.30pm daily, if the required controls and checks are implemented. Beyond the cordoned area and timing, diners will be permitted to sit only in pairs.
Coffee shop associations whom The Straits Times spoke to welcomed the new measures, citing better business for coffee shop owners and also how they will help solve the problem of manpower shortage in coffee shops.
Mr Hong Poh Hin, vice-chairman of the Foochow Coffee Restaurant and Bar Merchants Association which represents more than 400 coffee shops, said the time-bound VDS will likely be popular among coffee shops.
He said some coffee shops previously assigned at least two staff members throughout the day to manage the entry point for fully vaccinated diners who wish to dine in groups of up to five.
For the time-bound VDS, Mr Hong said coffee shops will have to assign a staff member only for a fixed period of time in a day to check the entry and vaccination status of people who would like to dine in groups of up to five.
“This will help coffee shops reduce manpower costs because you will only need a staff for a few hours instead of an entire day,” said Mr Hong.
But most of the operators at the 10 coffee shops that ST spoke to on Monday (March 7) are not too worried if their business will be affected.
Mr Dinakara Begar Ramanna Shetty, 45, who owns an Indian food stall at the Woodlands 326 coffee shop, said: “For the past two years, because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the measures are constantly changing and we are used to it.”
Similarly, Mr Haris Martin, 26, co-owner of Fried Rice Story at 631 Bedok Reservoir Road Nam Wah Coffeeshop, said: “These days, many people choose the takeaway option instead of eating at the coffee shop. So I don’t think that even if the coffee shop here implements VDS, it would really affect my business.”
Meanwhile, some coffee shop staff such as Mr Lee Weejun, a drinks stall assistant at Tong Yuan Eating House at 151 Bedok Reservoir Road, said they are unlikely to apply for the VDS options.
“If we want to have five fully vaccinated diners in our coffee shop, we will need to have someone to check the SafeEntry entry and vaccination status of the diners. This person will have to be stationed in our coffee shop for the entire day and incur extra manpower cost,” he said in Mandarin.
Some customers also told ST that they found the VDS options confusing.
Madam Bessie Ng, a 63-year-old admin executive, said she does not understand why there is a need to have different VDS options at coffee shops.
“It is very confusing to have so many options at the coffee shops. How do we know which coffee shops implement the VDS options? Right now the restaurants allow up to five fully vaccinated people to dine in. So why is there a need to have different measures for coffee shops?” said Madam Ng.
