The Government will be easing some Safe Management Measures for businesses in view of the stabilisation of the weekly infection growth rate. Singapore will also pilot the resumption of more activities for fully vaccinated Singaporeans, announced the Multi-Ministry Taskforce on 8 November 2021.
From 10 November 2021, the Government will once again be allowing up to five fully vaccinated persons from the same household to dine-in together at food and beverage (F&B) establishments, provided they are able to administer comprehensive Vaccination-Differentiated Safe Management Measures (VDS) and checks.
But Finance Minister Lawrence Wong reminded that this concession applies to people who are from the same household only.
“If you are not from the same household the group size for dining remains capped at two persons. F&B establishments will implement this new ruling by checking the status of diners before they are seated,” he said.
F&B establishments will also be allowed to play soft recorded music, but this excludes live music and entertainment
The concessions exclude hawker centres and coffee shops but the Government is prepared to extend the same concession these establishments once additional control measures are put in place.
The estimated weekly reproduction rate of the virus is now around 0.9, and although the total number of COVID-19 cases in hospitals and the intensive care units remain high, the numbers are stable, according to Health Minister Ong Ye Kung.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) will also introduce VDS for residential care homes.
As residential care homes are vulnerable settings, where unvaccinated residents are likely to suffer worse outcomes than their vaccinated counterparts if they contract COVID-19, the VDS will be applicable to visitations and activities for residents.
MOH will provide more details when ready.
The Government will also pilot a new protocol of VDS plus Antigen-Rapid Tests (ART) for selected events as an added precaution, starting with team sports.
The pilot will allow up to groups of 10 persons who are fully vaccinated and ART tested before engaging in team sport activities at selected Active SG Sports Centres and community clubs.
“If these pilots are successful, we will consider extending this new protocol of VDS + ART to other settings, so we can progressively resume more activities safely,” said Mr Wong.
