No limits on group size, all workers can return

There will no longer be limits to group sizes or workplace capacities here from next Tuesday, as Singapore announced a major easing of its remaining Covid-19 safety measures.

For the first time in more than two years, the Republic's disease outbreak response system condition (Dorscon) level, which gives an indication of a disease outbreak situation, will also be stepped down from orange to yellow.

In a series of sweeping changes and the strongest push yet for a return to normality, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said yesterday that individuals will no longer be required to keep to a group of 10 people for mask-off activities from next Tuesday, while the use of SafeEntry and TraceTogether will cease at most venues.

With the coronavirus situation largely under control, the cap on the number of unique visitors per household, previously 10 people at any one time, will be lifted. Safe distancing will also no longer be required between individuals or between groups, said the ministry.

All workers may also return to the workplace from next Tuesday, up from the current 75 per cent of those who can work from home.

Workers will be allowed to remove their masks at the workplace when they are not interacting physically with others and when they are not in customer-facing areas. Masks are still required indoors outside of work settings.

There will also be no more capacity limit for large events and settings where there are more than 1,000 participants that require masks to be worn. The current capacity cap is 75 per cent.

TraceTogether and SafeEntry check-ins will be required only at large events with more than 500 participants and at certain nightlife establishments.

Vaccination-differentiated safe management measures will be removed for most settings, but will remain for events with more than 500 participants at any one time; nightlife establishments where there is dancing among patrons; and food and beverage establishments, including restaurants, coffee shops and hawker centres.

The ministry said that with next week's changes, almost all of Singapore's safe management measures, with the exception of the wearing of masks indoors, will be eased.

But these measures will continue to serve as the key levers to regulate social interactions, and the parameters can be adjusted if the situation requires it, MOH added.

Noting that Singapore has gone through many rounds of restrictions, Finance Minister and ministerial Covid-19 task force co-chair Lawrence Wong said yesterday that the changes are a "very significant step forward" in Singapore's journey to live with Covid-19.

"Two years isn't that long, but it somehow feels like a lifetime ago because so much has happened, and we have been through so much together," said Mr Wong virtually from the United States, where he is on a work trip.

"And working together, we have been able to keep everyone in Singapore safe, to protect lives and livelihoods, and to achieve one of the lowest Covid-19 fatality rates in the world."

At the same time, the task force urged Singaporeans to stay vigilant and maintain readiness in the face of potential risks, and stressed that the pandemic is not over.

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, who is also a co-chair of the task force, said one such risk is that of a new wave of infections emerging in the coming months as protection from vaccines and past infections wanes. "This continues to be a potential curveball that may knock us back to square one, and we must be alert to that."