“I wanted to faint”, “Siao liao” (crazy) — Long queues after easing of circuit breaker

Singapore – There were long queues in many places in Singapore on Friday (June 19) and Saturday following the start of Phase 2 of the relaxation of circuit breaker measures. Among the places allowed to reopen were F&B and retail outlets.

Many people appeared to be catching up on their shopping and on their favourite foods and drinks. There were long lines outside Daiso, Ikea and bubble tea outlets.

The crowds and the strain on social distancing have led to worries about a second wave of Covid-19 cases.

This photo and the following video are of the queues at Daiso.

the damn queue at daiso my god i wanted to faint pic.twitter.com/ygXZ5qNpUv

— nish ⇄ ༄‧₊˚. (@cheolswifey) June 19, 2020

IMM Daiso queue. Singaporeans deprived of Daiso for 2 months cannot tahan liao.#Singapore #COVID19 #cluster #Phase2 #reopening #chiongah pic.twitter.com/k20Ud7CRwr

— All Singapore Stuff (@allsgstuff) June 19, 2020

According to a mothership.sg report, there were queues at Ikea Tampines, various Popular bookstores, banks and retail outlets. Orchard Road, which felt like a ghost town during the circuit breaker, was bustling with shoppers on Friday.

Siao liao look at Ikea queue… Really same as last day of CB sia#Singapore #nomeatballs #IkeaTampines #carpark #COVID19 #cluster #phase2 #reopening pic.twitter.com/RZFXYwhIxe

— All Singapore Stuff (@allsgstuff) June 19, 2020

Long line to get into Victoria's Secret on Orchard Road on 2nd day shops re-open in #Singapore! Poor sods went some 70 days without new sexy underwear…. #Phase2 pic.twitter.com/VIyK0YrCA1

— Woman on edge of nervous breakdown ♀️??? (@EmmyAbdulAlim) June 20, 2020

Orchard road today pic.twitter.com/llz3G9bvEj

— Faris NurHakim (@mkvlln) June 19, 2020

Those who saw the crowds described the rush as “silly”, “worrying” and “a terrible sight”.

One person said the crowds behaved like people in a desert do when they see water for the first time.

Priorities were put into focus among the comments, with one person asking if shopping was more important than one’s life.

Many noted how such behaviour could lead to history repeating itself with much worse consequences.

Someone suggested to control access to shopping centres based on the same last digit of IC number system used in four popular wet markets. Others are waiting for the situation to stabilise before taking any risks.

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