SINGAPORE - Catch up on the hottest topics on The Big Story, ST's weekday talk show.

From next Monday (Sept 27), social gatherings will be capped at two as Singapore tightens restrictions to slow the rise in Covid-19 cases.

Dining in at eateries will also be reduced from five fully vaccinated people to a pair.

Hawker centres will still allow patrons to eat in pairs, regardless of vaccination status.

These measures will last a month until Oct 24.

Professor Teo Yik Ying, dean of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health at the National University of Singapore (NUS), weighs in on these new developments.

At the start of a four-week suspension of hospital visits on Friday, only a few ward visitors were seen trickling into Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) in the morning. They were among a small group of people allowed to visit their loved ones.

Exceptions are made only for visitors of patients who are critically ill, and for new mothers - on a case-by-case basis.

They will have to produce a negative antigen rapid test or polymerase chain reaction test result, obtained within 24 hours of each visit

Visitors told The Straits Times that they welcomed the stepped-up measures, citing the importance of keeping patients safe.

Over at Singapore General Hospital, the area set aside for visitors to take their ART was busy with more than 20 people waiting.

In other local headlines, a man involved in the 2019 Lucky Plaza crash that killed two women pleaded guilty to one count of dangerous driving on Friday and was sentenced to two years and six months' jail.

He has also been disqualified from driving all classes of vehicles for 10 years.