Singapore — As the country exits the stabilisation phase and into “living with Covid-19,” Health Minister Ong Ye Kung took to a hawker centre to commemorate the first day that groups of up to five individuals are allowed to dine in at selected venues.
“Today marks the first day that groups of five can dine in at selected hawker centres and coffee shops with Vaccination-Differentiated Safe Management Measures (VDS) checks,” said Mr Ong in a Facebook post on Tuesday (Nov 23).
Mr Ong visited Kampung Admiralty Hawker Centre, which is operated by NTUC Kopitiam and Foodfare, to check on the situation.
He noted that NTUC Foodfare staff were assigned different roles such as checking the vaccination status of patrons, issuing stickers to vaccinated diners, managing the queue and controlling the crowd.
“Entry into the hawker centre was quick and seamless, as many patrons came prepared to show their vaccination status,” said Mr Ong.
“Great to also see families and friends catching up over their meals at the hawker centre. Let’s all continue to stay vigilant and play our part to keep each other safe,” he added.
The Multi-Ministry Taskforce for Covid-19 recently announced that Singapore was moving forward in its transition towards “living with Covid-19.”
Finance Minister Lawrence Wong, who co-chairs the taskforce, said groups of up to five people would be allowed to dine in beginning Monday (Nov 22) even if they’re not from the same household.
Mr Wong also noted that increasing the limit further is currently not possible, as Singapore isn’t adopting a “big bang” approach to easing Covid-19 measures.
However, he mentioned that if the public complies with the Covid-19 measures, the country would be able to cope with the increase in daily infections, which is an expected result of easing restrictions.
If the situation remains stable, he noted that the next series of moves in easing restrictions could be imposed around the end of December.
There are currently 11 hawker centres allowed to accept groups of up to five diners, namely:
• Bedok Food Centre
• Beo Crescent Market
• Geylang Serai Market
• Holland Village Market & Food Centre
• Market Street Interim Food Centre
• Sembawang Hills Food Centre
• Tiong Bahru Market
• Kampung Admiralty Hawker Centre
• Ci Yuan Hawker Centre
• Hawker Centre @ Our Tampines Hub
• Pasir Ris Central Hawker Centre
Meanwhile, the seven coffeeshops with the increased limit are:
• Barfood & Co (1 Cantonment Road)
• Goodyear Restaurant Enterprise (15 Tampines Avenue)
• Qi Xiang (973 Upper Serangoon Road)
• B4RI (362 Tanjong Katong Road)
• The Patio (1018, Sembawang Road)
• Satay By The Bay (Gardens By The Bay)
• Makansutra Gluttons Bay (Esplanade Mall)
Read related: No 1-metre space between seats required at JJ Lin’s concert, netizens highlight ‘double standard’
No 1-metre space between seats required at JJ Lin’s concert, netizens highlight ‘double standard’