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Cover Photo: Unsplash

Social gatherings in groups of five will also resume along with hospital and residential care home visits

Vaccinated groups of up to five can dine at restaurants from today (November 22) without having to be from the same household. 

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The updates to our dining in restrictions will also apply to hawker centres and coffee shops that are able to put in place the necessary checks. If they are unable to, the dining in restrictions will remain and only allow vaccinated diners to eat out in groups of two vaccinated individuals. 

Unvaccinated children aged 12 and below will be allowed to be included in groups of five people dining in as long as they are all from the same household. 

The unvaccinated are still not allowed to dine in at food establishments and can only get take away food.

The group size limit on social gatherings will also be raised from two to five people, according to task force co-chair Gan Kim Yong at a press conference on November 20. This will also apply to household visits though households are encouraged to only allow vaccinated people into their homes. 

He continued by saying that Singapore’s Stabilisation Phase will officially end on November 21. The country will return to the Transition Phase as it sees lower Covid-19 case numbers and a more stable situation. 

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“We are now in a better position to further relax the safe management measures,” he said while adding that the number of severe Covid-19 cases has remained stable with the week-on-week infection ratio staying at about one or lower.

Our daily case numbers have also been falling over the last few days to below 3,000 a day on average. About 99 per cent of patients have mild or no symptoms and are recovering at home, according to the Ministry of Health (MOH) in a separate press release.

“The number of cases in the ICU remains high but stable in the past week at around 120 cases per day. Our overall ICU occupancy in the past week is at approximately 60 per cent,” the ministry shared. 

Tatler Asia
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Above Photo: Unsplash

Getting married soon? Take note that restrictions around solemnisations and receptions will also be loosened as of today. 

The wedding couple can now remain unmasked throughout the reception or solemnisation. Members of the wedding party will also be allowed to sing at the reception as long as all regulations are followed. 

The wedding couple and wedding party will have to take an antigen rapid test (ART) supervised by the venue operator or have a valid pre-event test result within 24 hours before the event to enjoy these benefits though, according to MOH. 

Additionally, vaccination-differentiated measures will now be expanded to all public libraries and selected activities in community clubs or centres under the People’s Association. 

“By restricting entry to only individuals who have been fully vaccinated, we can further reduce the risk of transmission in such settings,” the ministry said.

If you have loved ones in the hospital or in residential care homes, take note too because MOH has announced that visits to hospitals and residential care homes will finally resume with enhanced vaccine-differentiated measures from November 22. Visits to these places have been banned for many weeks in an attempt to control the spread of Covid-19 among the most vulnerable in our society and so as to not overwhelm the healthcare system. 

In-person visits will only be allowed if both patient or residential care home resident and their visitors are fully vaccinated. 

Additionally, Singapore has made updates to its Covid-19 booster jab programme. Now, eligible individuals will be allowed to receive their booster jabs five months after completing their second dose. This is down from six months. 

“It is evident that waning of antibodies can clearly occur by around six months after the second dose and occur earlier for older groups,” MOH explained.

As such, the expert committee on Covid-19 vaccinations has recommended that the interval for booster jabs be standardised to five months for all eligible age groups. This will take effect from November 24. 

Currently, the Health Ministry is giving booster shots six months after the second dose for people aged 30 to 59. They are administering booster shots at a five-month interval for those aged 60 and above.

Tatler Asia
Photo: Unsplash
Above Photo: Unsplash

Health Minister and task force co-chair Ong Ye Kung acknowledged that there was a deep desire for more restrictions to be loosened particularly as we approach the festive season. However, he maintained that it was important to exercise caution to prevent another spike in cases. 

“So as far as possible, we don’t want to do an opening move that’s significant in the month of December, because we risk once opening, social activities will spike up very high, and it can drive and spark off a new wave,” he said.

However, the relevant authorities are monitoring the situation and if it continues to remain stable, Singapore will “consider the next series of moves” around end-December, according to co-chair Lawrence Wong.  

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