Singapore government on Friday has decided to further ease Covid-related restrictions next week but at a slower pace, as local infections have not declined significantly. The government announced that from Monday higher risk activities such as dining-in at restaurants and indoor mask-off sports and exercises will be allowed to resume in groups of up to two people – instead of five as previously declared.
Group size will likely to be increased to as many as five people from mid-July, barring another super-spreader event or a big cluster of infections, said the officials.
“The number of cases in the community has somewhat stabilized, but it’s not going down significantly and we’re seeing several unlinked cases every day. Therefore, we remain concerned, especially when we have yet to achieve a high level of vaccination,” - said Gan Kim Yong, Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry who co-chairs the country’s Covid taskforce.
The country saw 14 new cases Friday, up from just 4 on June 10, when it announced a partial relaxation of lockdown-like restrictions that had been in place since mid-May. People were allowed to meet in social groups of 5 from 2 people on Monday, while the city attractions, events, and cruises were increased to 50% from 25%.
Senior officials said mass vaccination is key to reopen, as Singapore is one of the fastest vaccination roll-outs in Asia-Pacific, but lags many countries in the West. Around 2.7 million people (49% of the population) have received at least the first dose of Covid vaccine as of Tuesday, Ong said. And, 35% of the population have been fully vaccinated, he added.
