Up to 5 people from same household can dine out together from Nov 10
SOCIAL and business activities in Singapore are moving one step closer to normalcy, with up to 5 people from the same household allowed to dine out together from Wednesday (Nov 10), from a cap of 2 before.
More leeway will also be given to large-scale gatherings, such as sports events and meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (Mice), as long as all participants have been both fully vaccinated and tested negative on site for Covid-19.
The new rules were among the changes in what the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Monday (Nov 8) dubbed "calibrated adjustments in Stabilisation Phase", in a reference to the two-month period of social restrictions that was recently extended to Nov 21.
In a move long urged by food and beverage (F&B) industry players, as many as 5 fully vaccinated household members will be allowed to dine together at most eateries - except for hawker centres and coffee shops - from Nov 10 onwards.
Hawker centres and coffee shops have been excluded from the relaxed rules because they are not able to carry out comprehensive checks of patrons' vaccination status. The MOH, however, said it is prepared to extend the same concession to hawker centres and coffee shops once they have put in place additional control measures.
F&B outlets will also be allowed to play "soft recorded music" from Nov 10, against a complete ban before, although live music and entertainment are still forbidden.
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Still, the limit of 2 vaccinated diners from different households has been kept in place, and the MOH also urged households "to continue to exercise care and restraint when dining out together, especially if there are elderly members" involved.
Meanwhile, from Dec 1, individuals who are medically ineligible for Covid-19 vaccination will be exempted from having to be fully vaccinated to dine out or enter public spaces such as shopping centres.
But "we strongly encourage these individuals to minimise such activities and to use this concession judiciously", the MOH said, while warning that their risk of being infected and falling severely ill "remains real and very high".
Such individuals include adults who have had allergic reactions to all nationally available vaccines, or recent organ transplant recipients advised against vaccination.
Separately, the MOH announced that it will pilot the reopening of more activities that have been deemed higher risk, by adding a rapid-test protocol to the requirement for all participants to be fully vaccinated.
For example, team sports can resume in groups of up to 10 fully vaccinated players "in controlled and supervised settings" from Nov 10, compared with groups of 2 before.
The initiative will also be applied to select mass sporting and Mice events, where some safe management measures can be relaxed, the MOH said.
While the vaccination and rapid-testing pilot will begin with sports and Mice activities, "this protocol can be extended to other settings" if successful, the MOH added.
Large-scale sports and Mice events can also soon be held with up to 100 attendees in zones that are at least 2 metres apart from Nov 10, against groups of up to 50 attendees that are at least 3 metres apart, previously.
Group religious worship services, Mice and sports events, wedding solemnisations and receptions, and work-related activities will be allowed to have up to 10 unmasked public speakers at any time, as long as these speakers are at least 2m away from audiences.
Speakers at worship services and Mice events previously had to be at least 3m away when unmasked, and unmasked public speaking was not allowed in the other settings.
Finance Minister Lawrence Wong, one of the co-chairs of Singapore's multi-ministry taskforce against Covid-19, said that "we have been careful in putting together this package of adjustments, which we hope will be meaningful" while keeping risks "under control".
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