About 400 ComfortDelGro taxis will have a plastic shield installed to ensure social distancing between passengers and drivers as part of a trial.

The announcement of this measure came after the multi-ministry taskforce confirmed on May 20 that Singapore will be ending its Circuit Breaker period on June 1 as planned and will gradually reopen the economy in three phases.

400 taxis to install protective plastic shield

The trial will see the taxis fitted with a plastic cover called V-shield which aims to minimise contact between cabbies and their passengers.

About 50 taxis will be installed every week from now, according to the news release.

V-shields are locally-manufactured and trademarked by Moove Media, a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Corporation.

Measuring 1m x 0.7m x 0.6m, the V-shield covers the driver’s cabin entirely and is made of "unbreakable" plastic material to protect the drivers from any violent physical harm, the news release added.

It also comes with two openings to facilitate payments on board.

The shield encases only the driver’s cabin area and does not obstruct airflow in the rest of the taxi.

If the trial proves to be successful, more taxis will have V-shield installed.

Here it is:

A private hire driver created a DIY shield divider too:

Top photo from ComfortDelGro.