Singaporeans ventured out to malls and megastores to get what they need the day before "circuit breaker" measures kick in, although the crowds were not as large as seen over the weekend.
There were no long queues to enter the malls that The Straits Times visited yesterday as crowd control measures were in place. Queues formed only outside certain stores that restricted the number of customers allowed in at any one time.
Beginning today, non-essential services, which include department stores and retail outlets, will be closed for four weeks until May 4 to pre-empt escalating coronavirus infections. Only key economic sectors and essential services such as food establishments, markets and supermarkets, clinics, hospitals, utilities, transport and key banking services will be open.
After a packed weekend at Ikea's Alexandra store, the scene at the Swedish furniture store was comparatively quieter yesterday.
Shoppers, including a number of elderly people and a handful of children and infants, were mostly wearing masks and keeping a relatively safe distance from one another within the megastore.
Mr Ashwin Nair, 42, was one of the shoppers at Ikea hoping to pick up an office chair but left disappointed as they were sold out. His wife will also be working from home for the next month but they have only one study area.
"I guess I'll have to make do and put a cushion on the dining chair or buy one online but there's the uncertainty regarding delivery; you don't know when it'll arrive," said Mr Nair, who works as a manager in the shipping industry.
He and his wife went to Ikea on Saturday to buy an office chair but turned back after seeing the long queue.
Over the weekend, photographs of meandering queues outside the furniture store circulated on social media, prompting the store to urge shoppers to avoid visiting during peak hours.
Healthcare assistant Salmah Mohamad, 60, made a quick trip to pick up furniture and shelves. She moved into a new home with her husband last week.
She said: "I have no choice but to come pick up some essentials because I need to unpack and tidy up my house. I'll be very fast; just buy what I need and go home."
Similar scenes played out in the heartland malls, where people were doing last-minute shopping to prepare for the shutdown.
Ms Cheryl L, 29, borrowed 16 picture books at the Cheng San Public Library in Hougang Mall to read them to her two-year-old daughter at bedtime over the upcoming weeks.
"My daughter is very young so I don't want to put her in front of the screen at all, if possible. I will read to her, and with the libraries closed for a month, I must make sure I get as many books as I can," said the freelance artist, who did not want to give her full name.
At some stores, shoppers were not deterred by the queue.
One parent, who wanted to be known only as Mrs Teo, waited in line at the Popular branch in Lot One shopping mall in Choa Chu Kang to buy stationery and assessment books for her 11-year-old daughter in preparation for home-based learning.
"We heard that there were a lot of people going to Popular to stock up so we thought it's better to come in the afternoon when there's fewer people," said the 41-year-old housewife.
Chef Vikneswaran Batumalia, 34, stocked up on new PlayStation 4 video games.
He and his wife queued for 10 minutes to enter video game store Toy Or Game at Jem in Jurong.
"Today's queue is quite short compared to when we came here on Saturday, so we just decided to buy some new games as backup since we're going to spend more time at home," he said.
Yishun Innova Junior College student Andrey Soo, 18, and his friend also had no qualms about joining a snaking queue of around 20 people, mostly students in school uniforms, to enter the Muji branch in Jem to buy pen refills and foolscap paper.
"We're not panic buying stationery; this is just what we need for our studies. Even if there's no home learning and we have to go to school, I'll still need to buy stationery," he said.
