Larger groups of five people can be expected to be allowed to dine in together from next Monday (July 12), Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said in Parliament.
This will be an increase from the current two per group, as Singapore eases measures and opens up further from a recent outbreak in community cases.
The tighter rules that were implemented to curb the spread of Covid-19 – including a ban on dining in and reducing the permissible size of group gatherings from five to two people – took effect from May 16 to June 13, and were then extended to June 20.
The measures were to reduce indoor transmission risks at settings where people do not have their masks on.
Calibrated Covid-19 measures
Mr Wong said the latest round of outbreaks did not warrant an economy-wide circuit breaker like last year. Instead, the Covid-19 measures were calibrated based on the severity of the outbreaks.
“These additional measures have worked in curbing the spread of the virus, while allowing most parts of the economy to continue operating,” he said.
“So that is why we started to ease the restrictions from June 14, when we moved from phase 2 to phase 3 (heightened alert); and we expect to open up further from July 12 to allow larger groups of five people to dine together,” he added.
Mr Wong also said that the country is in a “much better position” to deal with the pandemic than at the start, with more robust public health defenses, including testing and contact tracing capabilities. There’s also been good progress in the vaccination drive.
Almost 40 per cent of Singapore’s population has been fully vaccinated and nearly 8000 doses are administered daily, said Mr Wong.
From 1 July 2021, Vulcan Post’s premium articles will be hidden behind a paywall. Subscribers will be able to enjoy exclusive articles with a deeper level of coverage and insight on verticals that include government technology, electric vehicles, cryptocurrency and e-commerce. You can check out our premium articles here and subscribe to us here.
Featured Image Credit: Ore Huiying via Getty Images
VP Label puts together all the best local products for you to discover in one place. Join us in supporting homegrown Singaporean brands:
The post Covid-19: S’pore might allow dining in for up to 5 persons from July 12 as planned appeared first on Vulcan Post.
