Covid-19 curbs likely to stay through Chinese New Year

Singapore

SINGAPOREANS may have to celebrate Chinese New Year (CNY) in groups of no more than 5, as the highly mutated Omicron variant of the coronavirus threatens to spark a new wave of Covid-19 infections.

Finance Minister Lawrence Wong, a co-chair of the multi-ministry taskforce on Covid-19, said on Wednesday (Jan 5) that "we don't intend to relax further at this time, and we will try not to have to tighten" social restrictions until the Omicron wave passes, which is unlikely to happen before the CNY holiday in February.