Restaurateurs in Singapore were looking forward to the first weekend of relaxed rules allowing groups of five to dine in after three weeks of hosting groups of two.
Then, a cluster involving KTV lounges was reported on Wednesday. There are currently 148 cases in the fast-growing cluster.
From tomorrow, dining-in group sizes at eateries will be reduced to two if patrons have not been vaccinated, and five if they have.
LeVeL33 founding managing director Martin Bem is one of the many in the food and beverage (F&B) sector who are unhappy with the changes. He told The Sunday Times: "We were already massively upset about these abusive KTVs nullifying all our common efforts, even before the news (about tightened curbs) came out. Now it is, of course, worse."
As at yesterday, the microbrewery in Marina Bay Financial Centre Tower 1 had received a few changes in reservations, most of which were postponements.
Dr Bem said LeVeL33 had followed safe management measures and went beyond that, like installing air purifiers that sanitise the air with ultraviolet light, only to be hit with a new wave of curbs because of errant KTV operators.
"That is unacceptable and unfair for the hundreds of thousands of employees of the food service industry in Singapore, who all risk their income," he said.
A spokesman for Fleurette, a fine-dining restaurant in Rangoon Road, said that while it understands the situation is fluid, it felt new rules were often announced without enough time for the industry to react, leading to wasted ingredients or cancelled reservations costing thousands of dollars.
"With each new ruling, we lose bookings and regular customers who are apprehensive to return, lest their booking gets delayed again," said the spokesman. Some have had their reservations delayed for months.
"By going back to two persons after barely a few days, we will be back in the same hole we were in just two to three weeks ago."
Fleurette also called for more assistance from the Government, saying the subsidy it receives from the Jobs Support Scheme has not been enough. The scheme has been extended from July 26 to Aug 8 for F&B operators.
A Restaurant Association of Singapore (RAS) spokesman said the industry faces another set of challenges with the new rules, which vary based on the vaccination status of individuals and will require a great deal of operational effort to implement.
Unvaccinated people who have negative pre-event tests and recovered Covid-19 patients can also join or form groups of five.
However, at hawker centres, foodcourts and coffee shops, group sizes must not exceed two people.
RAS also called on landlords to assist F&B tenants, noting that most landlords have extended only the government-mandated rebates for last year and offered no rebates so far this year, despite the heightened alert phase in May.
Retail outlets in malls are also feeling the pinch. A sales assistant at a clothing store in VivoCity said on Friday that the number of customers increased when dine-in restrictions were eased last Monday. But the store has seen a decrease by 30 per cent since Thursday.
At Ang Mo Kio Hub and Northpoint City yesterday, families were rushing to dine out together one last time before restrictions kick in tomorrow.
Ms Fazeela Tow, 35, was having lunch at A&W restaurant with her mother and her young son.
Ms Tow, who works in customer service and is getting her first vaccine dose this week, said: "When we heard about the revised rule, I quickly decided to use this chance to dine out one last time."
At Sanook Kitchen in Northpoint City, Mr Raja Razie was enjoying a meal with his wife and four children. The couple are receiving their first dose this week and only their eldest child has had his first.
Mr Razie, 40, who is self-employed in the consultancy and advertising business, said the family had to eat in their car at East Coast Park back when groups of only two were allowed to dine in.
"We were so happy when we heard that we could dine in numbers of five, so one of us could at least eat with two kids each," he said, lamenting that they can no longer do so.
