Popular public spaces, including parks and beaches, will be made inaccessible as they approach capacity limits.

The move, which is part of Singapore's enhanced safe distancing measures under Phase 2, was announced by the Multi-Ministry Taskforce (MTF) in a virtual press conference on July 24, 2020.

MTF said that they have observed crowding and poor adherence to safe distancing measures at certain hotspots, such as:

• Popular night spots
• Beaches
• Selected malls and parks
• HDB towns

The taskforce also cited the crowd at East Coast Park in recent weekends, where many were seen congregating in groups larger than five.

Under Phase 2 measures, social gatherings should not see more than five people, and masks must be worn at all times, with limited exceptions.

As a result, these hotspots will see enhanced crowd control measures.

In addition to the temporarily inaccessibility of parks and beaches, car parks serving these popular venues may also be selectively closed.

Minister and MTF co-chair Lawrence Wong said,

"We are not closing beaches, or parks, just to be very clear. What we are doing is having tighter control measures.

[...] When we see at any point in time, the crowds starting to reach capacity limits, then they [officers] will start to stop people from coming in, and then to try and divert traffic to other parts of the park, or the beaches, or other areas where there are fewer people."

The venues may also be regulated by segments, where more crowds and vehicles will be redirected from more popular stretches to less crowded areas.

Over the last weekend, more than 100 fines were issued to individuals who failed to adhere to safe distancing measures at gardens, parks and nature reserves.

"Agencies will also step up enforcement, and will take firm action against safe distancing breaches by both individuals and businesses, especially at hotspots where the risks of transmission is greater," MTF added.

Parks and beaches were previously closed a few days after circuit breaker was implemented on Apr. 7, as many had flouted circuit breaker measures to visit these venues.

The recreational spots reopened at the start of Phase 2 on June 19.

If you're heading to these venues, you can check out the crowd levels using this real-time map:

Top image by NParks via Masagos Zulkifli on Facebook