S’pore from July 12 can allow dining up to 5 people

Larger groups of five people are expected to be allowed to dine together from next Monday (July 12th), Finance Minister Lawrence Wong told parliament.

That will be an increase from the current two per group, as Singapore eases measures and opens up further than the recent outbreak of community cases.

Stricter rules applied to curb the spread of Covid-19 – including a ban on eating and reducing the size of group gatherings from five to two – went into effect from May 16 to June 13, and were then extended until June 20.

Measures were to reduce the risks of indoor transmission in environments where people do not have masks.

Calibrated measures Covid-19

Mr Wong said the latest round of epidemics does not justify a switch for the whole economy like last year. Instead, Covid-19 measures were calibrated based on the severity of the outbreak.

“These additional measures have worked to curb the spread of the virus, while allowing most parts of the economy to continue to operate,” he said.

“So that’s why we started easing the restrictions on June 14, when we moved from phase 2 to phase 3 (heightened alert); and we expect to open further from July 12 to allow larger groups of five people to dine together, ”he added.

Mr Wong also said the country was in a “much better position” to deal with the pandemic than at first, with stronger public health protections, including testing and contact-seeking capabilities. Good progress has also been made in vaccination action.

Nearly 40 percent of people in Singapore are fully vaccinated and nearly 8,000 doses are given daily, Mr Wong said.

Credit for featured images: Ore Huiying via Getty Images