Lawrence Wong says groups of five can dine outside from 12 July, also shares some updates on several support schemes

Singapore — Finance Minister Lawrence Wong announces that groups of five are allowed to dine out with effect from 12 Jul and also shares some updates on support schemes and measures.

Singapore entered Phase 3, also known as Heightened Alert, on June 14. Consequently, new measures were introduced to tamp down on the spread of the Covid-19 virus and reduce the number of cases in Singapore.

Due to the spike in cases and Covid-19 clusters, Singapore prohibited dining in at eateries and only allowed people to go outside in groups of two from May 16. Dining in at food and beverage outlets was only recently allowed to resume around 2 weeks ago (Jun 21), though the group size was limited to two.

Mr Wong expressed that he was happy to announce that members of the public can expect to dine out in groups of five from 12 July.

In addition, the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) will be enhanced based on how greatly various sectors were affected by the measures put in place. This enhancement will be implemented until 11 July. Subsequently, it will be adjusted to 10 per cent for two weeks until 26 July.

As small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) are facing many difficulties during these trying times, they will be receiving more assistance besides the help they are getting from Singapore’s Covid-19 support packages. Mr Wong reveals that the Temporary Bridging Loan programme and Enhanced Enterprise Financing Scheme – Trade Loan will both be extended for half a year.

Mr Wong wishes that the new measures and enhancements will be of help to businesses and workers alike during the pandemic. He also hopes that Singapore can continue to stay united while being resilient and recover from the outbreak.

At the end of his post, Mr Wong adds a link to his full ministerial statement.

You Zi Xuan is an intern at The Independent SG. /TISG