Fully vaccinated household members may now dine out in groups of five from Nov 10th

[ASEAN NOW News]

People having lunch at Ippudo Ramen in Raffles City Shopping Centre on Jun 21, 2021. (Photo: Jeremy Long)

 

SINGAPORE: Fully vaccinated people from the same household can dine out together in groups of up to five from Wednesday (Nov 10), announced co-chair of the multi-ministry COVID-19 task force Gan Kim Yong. 

 

According to CNA, the easing of dining-out restrictions will not apply to those from different households, where the cap remains at two fully vaccinated people, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in a separate press release. 

 

It will also not apply to hawker centres and coffee shops, as F&B outlets must be able to administer "comprehensive" vaccination checks, the ministry said. 

 

“We are prepared to extend the same concession to hawker centres and coffee shops once they have put in place additional control measures.” 

 

The National Environment Agency and Singapore Food Agency will engage the hawkers’ associations and coffee shop operators on this, and further updates will be provided when ready, the ministry said. 

 

F&B outlets will also be allowed to play "soft recorded music" from Wednesday, but live music and entertainment remain banned.

 

Social gatherings are still limited to a maximum of two people and should be kept at one a day, whether to another household or in a public place.

 

The cap on household visitors remains unchanged at two a day; this does not apply to grandchildren being cared for by grandparents.

 

"Situation stabilising"

 

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Mr Gan noted that although Singapore is still recording more than 3,000 new COVID-19 cases per day, the situation has stabilised in the past two weeks. 

 

“The week-on-week ratio of infections has come down to below one over the last few days, and it was at 0.81 as of Nov 7. The number of cases in hospitals and the proportion of cases with serious illness has also remained stable,” he said. 

 

Thanking Singaporeans for “working together” to slow down the transmission of COVID-19, Mr Gan said: “With the situation stabilising, we are now in a better position to ease some of our safe management measures without overwhelming our healthcare system." 

 

While the number of COVID-19 cases in hospitals and under intensive care remains high, it is stable – ICU utilisation is "hovering at around 70 per cent", said MOH.

 

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