Restaurant patrons unfazed by news of people flouting pandemic rules in New Year's Eve gathering
The big gathering of revellers in Clarke Quay on New Year's Eve - which has been described as a possible Covid-19 superspreading event - has not frightened away patrons from dining there.
Last week, videos of the gathering, believed to have involved hundreds of people, were posted on social media. Many had masks pulled down, and they could be seen celebrating in front of Riverside Point.
The multi-ministry task force tackling Covid-19 here said on Jan 2 that the gathering involved some blatant breaches of safe management rules and was a potential superspreading event.
Enforcement agencies were looking into the matter, it added.
When The Straits Times visited Clarke Quay and Riverside Point on Friday (Jan 7) and Saturday, restaurant staff - most of whom declined to be named or asked for their workplaces not to be named - said the news had not dampened business over the past week.
An employee at Brewerkz said it was equally busy during the first week of January as during the festive period in December.
"I think people know the New Year's Eve gathering was an anomaly, so they are still very open to dining out. Some people are also trying adapt to the fact that we have to live with Covid-19," she said, adding that she was optimistic about business this year.
A worker at Mexican restaurant Cafe Iguana said business was unaffected, while a manager at another restaurant noted increased footfall during the first week of January.
"Business has actually been better, probably because more people are returning to the office this year so more of them drop by after work. I don't really think that people are concerned about the gathering on New Year's Eve, as it was just a one-off event," he said.
A staff member at a bar told ST that his patrons were not put off by the gathering, and he hoped that the Chinese New Year period next month would provide a festive business lift.
He added: "I hope such a gathering does not happen again because our industry has already been badly affected by Covid-19. We cannot afford another blow."
While most visitors ST spoke to were unperturbed by the New Year's Eve revelry, some were concerned about such crowds forming in Clarke Quay again.
Student Veronica Burns, 17, said: "It was worrying to see the videos showing the huge crowd that night. So when my friends decided to meet at Clarke Quay today, I was hesitant.
"I actually planned to head home if I saw such crowds form again. But thankfully, there were no such gatherings, so I stayed for dinner."
ST saw two safe distancing ambassadors in Clarke Quay on Friday night, but none the following night.
Another student, 17-year-old Catherine Ohlsen, said she frequents the dining spots in Clarke Quay and had never seen such a large gathering in the area.
"While it was irresponsible of them to do that, I'm not going to halt plans with my friends because of it. Covid-19 has been around for two years, I think we need to learn to live with it," she added.
Mr Charles Lim, 50, who was with his wife and two-year-old son, said: "It seems to be as crowded as always, which is good because I don't think restaurants should be penalised by having fewer customers because of what happened."
Added the IT trainer: "I wasn't worried about visiting Clarke Quay with my family. Even though I have a young son, we're being careful and abiding by the rules. At the end of the day, I think we need to learn to live with the virus."
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