Groups of up to 5 from same household can eat at hawker centres, coffee shops from end-Nov
SINGAPORE - Dining concessions will be extended to hawker centres and coffeeshops to allow fully-vaccinated household members to eat out in groups of up to five by the end of November.
Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said an update on Singapore's possible next move in terms of Covid-19 measures currently in place - such as the two-person limit for social gatherings - may be provided next week.
On Oct 20, these measures were extended by a month to Nov 21.
The "calibrated relaxation" of Singapore's safe management measures last week will lead to more social interactions, observed Health Minister Ong Ye Kung.
This will mean higher virus transmission and infection cases in the coming days.
"While this is happening, we are also administering more booster shots and more people are also recovering safely from infection and becoming resilient to the virus," he added.
"So this counteracts against higher social interactions and infections, and we hope that overall, the situation can remain in check even if it does not."
Mr Ong said stricter vaccination-differentiated measures will hopefully keep the number of unvaccinated infected individuals low and the pressure off hospitals.
Over time, boosters and natural infections will help increase population immunity and bring overall infection numbers down again.
"When that happens, the week-on-week ratio will fall below one again, and this will give scope to implement further relaxation of restrictions," he said.
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