Check how crowded malls and parks are with Space Out and Safe Distance @ Parks

As Singapore practises social and physical distancing to combat the spread of the coronavirus, government agencies have rolled out a couple of useful applications to help you check how crowded malls and parks are before you decide whether to go out: Space Out and Safe Distance @ Parks.

Last Friday (3 April), the government advised people to go outside only to buy groceries or to exercise. Although non-essential businesses and shops were ordered to close for a month beginning on Tuesday (7 April), malls and parks remain open for people to buy essential goods and exercise.

However, you should still practise physical distancing as you shop at malls or exercise in public parks. Keep at least one metre away from other groups of people in any public place.

Check out the Yahoo poll at the end of this article to see how other Yahoo users are keeping fit during this period.

Space Out for crowdedness in malls

Space Out (www.spaceout.gov.sg) is a portal developed by the Urban Redevelopment Authority using data provided by malls about their crowdedness at particular points in time.

Visit Space Out to see crowd levels in malls across Singapore before you head out to buy essential goods and services. Tap on the circles representing malls on the map to see the level of crowdedness of specific malls.

Space Out ranks the crowdedness of malls on a scale of four levels: Not Crowded (less than 50%), Some Crowd (50% to 75%), Crowded (76% to 99%), and Max (100%).

If a mall is indicated as being Not Crowded or has Some Crowd, it is probably fine to visit that mall. However, if it is Crowded or Maxed out, you should avoid visiting that mall.

Safe Distance @ Parks for crowdedness in public parks

With gyms closed and the space to exercise inside your homes being limited, you may wish to visit parks for your workout.

However, if you’re exercising at home, check out our recommended fitness influencers to follow to get your home workout in.

If you need to exercise outdoors, Safe Distance @ Parks (safedistparks.nparks.gov.sg) is another portal created by the National Parks Board (NParks) to help people check how crowded a park is at a point in time before deciding whether to visit the park.

Click on the circles on the map that represent parks to see their visitorship status. Parks are ranked by three levels of visitorship: Low, Moderate and High. NParks advises that you refrain from visiting parks when they are experiencing high visitorship.

Remember that, until end-April, if you intentionally sit on a seat or stand in a queue less than one metre from someone else in public venues, you may face a fine of up to $10,000 or a maximum jail term of six months, or both.

Read more:

• Take COVID-19 'circuit breaker' measures seriously, says Lawrence Wong

• COVID-19: Most workplaces to close from 7 April; schools to roll out full home-based learning

• Our favourite Asian fitness influencers to follow for home workouts

• Streaming services to watch while staying at home to avoid the coronavirus