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Wet markets, hawker centres, coffee shops go quiet
The usual din was missing at wet markets, hawker centres and coffee shops as tighter Covid-19 safety rules kicked in on Thursday.
Singapore went back to phase two (heightened alert) till Aug 18 to stem the recent spike in community cases.
Dining in will not be allowed during this period and maximum group sizes for social gatherings have been reduced from five to two.
Markets in Clementi and Whampoa shut
There are two new Covid-19 clusters at markets in Clementi and Whampoa linked to the Jurong Fishery Port cluster and a new cluster at the Marina Bay Sands Casino, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).
In its daily update on Wednesday night , MOH said it has detected 22 Covid-19 cases among people who worked in or visited Clementi 448 Market and Food Centre and 12 cases at Whampoa Drive Market.
Both markets were closed to the public from Thursday to Aug 5 to break the chain of transmission and enable deep cleaning of the premises, MOH said.
Auditor-General finds wastage of $5.39m of public funds
The roll-out of a national fitness challenge by the Health Promotion Board (HPB) was found to have wasted $5.39 million of public funds, due to fitness trackers that were not put to use, the Auditor-General's Office (AGO) has said.
In its annual audit of government accounts, the AGO also flagged that erroneous claims paid to ineligible officers or pensioners over a period of more than two years which were administered by the Public Service Division (PSD) resulted in the possible overpayment of around $500,000.
End of road for Hyflux as High Court approves its winding up
Beleaguered water treatment firm Hyflux has finally reached the end of the road after the High Court approved its winding up on Wednesday afternoon.
The move followed a three-year restructuring attempt that involved a number of twists.
The ruling also means the long-suffering 34,000 retail investors holding Hyflux perpetual securities and preference shares (PnP) and who were owed $900 million will likely end up with nothing.
Briton charged with second Covid-19 offence
A man who was filmed not wearing a mask on an MRT train in May is now accused of failing to don one within and outside the State Courts building between 9.57am and 10.33am on July 2.
Benjamin Glynn, 40, appeared in a district court on Monday and was handed his latest charge - his second under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act.
The Briton, who had been released on bail of $5,000 earlier this month, had his bail revoked on Monday.
12 schools go to ballot in third phase of Primary 1 registration exercise
Balloting will take place at 12 primary schools in the third phase of this year's Primary 1 registration exercise - Phase 2A2.
The schools include Gongshang Primary, Holy Innocents' Primary, Nan Hua Primary and Rulang Primary, according to the Ministry of Education's (MOE) website on Wednesday.
The most oversubscribed school is Nan Hua Primary, which has 21 children vying for five vacancies.
