Thailand
Singapore: Dining-in for up to 5 people, indoor fitness classes to resume from June 21
Dining-in at food and beverage (F&B) establishments for groups of up to five people will be allowed to resume from June 21, if the Covid-19 situation in Singapore remains under control in the coming weeks, the multi-ministry taskforce on Covid-19 said at a press conference on Thursday.
Other activities that will be allowed to resume at that time include wedding receptions with up to 100 attendees and pre-event testing (PET), live performances, indoor mask-off sports activities at gyms and fitness studios and in-person tuition and enrichment classes.
This is part of a two-stage process of returning to Phase 3 restrictions, the task force said.
Finance Minister and task force co-chair Lawrence Wong noted that Singapore will not be able to eliminate all hidden or cryptic cases in the community. The country will therefore need to learn to live with the virus while minimising transmission and risk of large clusters. For this reason, higher-risk settings such as F&B establishments must comply with all safe-distancing rules and safe-management measures.
“While I understand that F&B operators will be disappointed that they have to wait one more week before they can reopen, I ask all of them to make use of the one week to really go through their processes, their protocols, to make sure that their restaurant layouts comply fully with the rules so that diners when they come in will be one metre apart at least, and have good ventilation in their restaurant, because we know these are high risk settings,” said Mr Wong.
When dining-in resumes, F&B establishments will need to continue maintaining at least a one metre safe-distancing between groups of diners. Enforcement will be stepped up and firmer action will be taken against any breaches, the Health Ministry said in a press statement.
Regular testing with antigen rapid tests will also be introduced for all staff who work in high-risk settings without their masks on, such as at F&B outlets, facial services, gyms and fitness studios, he added.
Wedding receptions of up to 100 attendees including the wedding couple but excluding vendors will be allowed, with PET required for all attendees. For smaller wedding receptions with up to 50 attendees, PET is required only for members of the wedding party, which can consist of up to 20 attendees including the wedding couple.
Live performances with unmasking, singing and playing of wind instruments will be allowed, subject to relevant safe management measures to be released by the National Arts Council. Such activities can also resume for congregational and worship services.
Gyms and fitness studios will be able to conduct indoor mask-off sports activities, with at least two metres between individuals and at least three metres between groups of up to five people.
Classes will be capped at 30 people including the instructor, with groups of no more than five people within each class. Masks can be removed for strenuous activities, although participants are strongly encouraged to remain masked where possible.
In-person tuition and enrichment classes for those aged 18 and younger will be allowed to resume, subject to enhanced safe management measures that the Education Ministry will announce. Arts and culture classes which are considered higher-risk, such as singing and wind instruments, will also be allowed to resume.
For sectors that will have to remain closed for the additional week, the government will extend the current enhancements to the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) until June 20. Subsequently, these affected sectors will receive 10 per cent JSS support from June 21 to June 30.
Additional help that has been offered to taxi and private hire car drivers will also be extended. The Covid-19 Driver Relief Fund will be extended for three more months at S$300 per month per vehicle for July and August, and S$150 per month per vehicle for September.
Source: https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/dining-in-for-up-to-5-people-indoor-fitness-classes-to-resume-from-june-21