Curbs on dining out, activities eased further

Singapore will relax curbs on dining out, household visits and some social activities from tomorrow, as the country gets back on track towards its goal of living with Covid-19 after nearly two months of stabilisation measures.

The easing means that fully vaccinated people from different households will be allowed to dine at food and beverage outlets in groups of up to five.

People can also gather in groups of up to five and receive up to five visitors a day from tomorrow, up from two. Rules on weddings and solemnisations will be relaxed too.

However, measures will be further tightened for those who remain unvaccinated by choice, with these people no longer allowed to show a negative Covid-19 test to bypass vaccination-differentiated measures from Jan 1.

This means only fully vaccinated people, as well as those who are medically ineligible for vaccination, have recovered from Covid-19 or are too young to be vaccinated, will be allowed into buildings such as malls.

Other measures, such as working from home being the default, remain unchanged.

Announcing the easing at a virtual media conference yesterday, Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong described the stabilisation phase as a "detour" that showed how Singapore needs to be nimble in its Covid-19 approach. The current set of restrictions was due to have lapsed after today.

"We are now in a better position to further relax the safe management measures," he added, noting that the weekly infection growth rate has stayed at 1 or lower, while the proportion of severe cases has also remained stable.

The relaxed dining-in rules will take effect at hawker centres and coffee shops from Tuesday, as long as these places are able to check patrons' vaccination status. If no such systems are in place, group sizes will remain capped at two.

Singapore saw 1,931 Covid-19 cases yesterday, with a weekly infection growth rate of 0.78. There were 13 deaths, aged between 62 and 98.

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said the current period presents a "valuable window of opportunity" to relax restrictions, adding that significantly easing measures during the upcoming festive period would risk a sudden spike in cases as people act on pent-up demand.

While the easing could result in more daily Covid-19 cases and more patients getting hospitalised, the growing number of people getting vaccine booster jabs - along with vaccination-differentiated measures - will help mitigate the impact on Singapore's healthcare system, he added.

Should Singapore miss this window and delay reopening until next year, the added protection for those who have gotten booster shots may have waned, he noted. This would result in poorer public health outcomes, in terms of Covid-19 infections and the strain on the healthcare system.

The country's stabilisation phase started on Sept 27 following a surge in Covid-19 cases, and was intended to last a month. But it was subsequently extended by another month to Nov 21 as the healthcare system remained at risk of being overwhelmed.

Support measures for affected sectors and individuals - including F&B outlets, gyms, and taxi and private hire car drivers - will taper off, in tandem with the easing of measures.

Vaccination-differentiated measures will be expanded to more venues from tomorrow, starting with hospitals and nursing homes, the authorities said.

Mr Gan, who is one of three ministers co-chairing the multi-ministry task force tackling the pandemic, urged unvaccinated people to stay home as much as possible to protect themselves against the virus. People visiting households with unvaccinated people are also encouraged to test themselves prior to the visit.

"I know some prefer to open up more quickly, but we must do so in a very careful and step-by-step manner," Mr Gan said, reiterating that the task force will observe the situation before relaxing measures further. "This way, we hope to avoid any disruptive U-turns."