5-pax dining-out for families to be considered if new cases fall, hospital situation stays stable

IF Covid-19 community cases in Singapore begin to decrease week on week, and the hospital or intensive care unit (ICU) situation remains stable, some easing of Covid-19 curbs will be considered, said the government's multi-ministry taskforce on Saturday (Oct 23).

The earliest moves to be taken are allowing up to 5 members from the same households to dine together at food and beverage (F&B) establishments, and allowing selected group sports and school activities to resume with appropriate safeguards.

The Stabilisation Phase, which Singapore entered on Sep 27 and was scheduled to end on Oct 24, has been extended by a month to Nov 21. But as the taskforce noted when announcing the extension on Oct 20, its measures - such as a cap of 2 persons for social gatherings or dining out - may not remain static throughout the month.

One key indicator being monitored is the weekly infection growth rate: the ratio of community cases in the past week, over the week before.

The ratio used to be 1.5, suggesting that cases were doubling every two weeks or so, said taskforce co-chair and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong

It has now come down to just above 1, which means that infections are continuing to rise but at a slower rate - though this continues to put pressure on the healthcare system.

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"If the ratio comes below 1, and our hospital and ICU situation remains stable, we will make some calibrated easing in three areas," said Wong.

First, team sports may be allowed - for instance, for teams of up to 5 could take part in contact sports. Here, the risk could be mitigated by requiring participants to do an antigent rapid test before the activity, said Wong.

Second, more activities in schools and institutions of higher learning will resume. Third, groups of up to 5 members from the same household will be allowed to dine together at F&B establishments.

"These are calibrated moves where we assess the risk to be acceptable," said Wong. Singapore is trying to take a "middle ground approach" of neither staying put nor opening up too liberally, but this means being selective and opening up in settings where the risks are more acceptable, he added.

The Ministry of Health's daily reports may also be updated with new indicators, "so that the public will be able to see the same indicators that we are monitoring closely", he said.

These include the rate of increase in infection numbers every day; the proportion of infection cases that fall seriously ill; and occupancy rates in hospitals, especially in ICU facilities.

READ MORE:

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