Four rowdy revelers will be charged with breaching COVID safety measures on New Year’s Eve at a massive impromptu party at Clarke Quay.
The four unidentified individuals, aged 19 to 22, were accused of violating multiple public health statues as part of a crowd of people huddled outside Riverside Point’s stretch of bars to ring in the new year with some very laddish behavior.
“Further investigations into other individuals are ongoing, and enforcement action will be taken against them if they are found to have breached any (safe management measures), which are put in place to protect the public,” the Urban Redevelopment Authority announced today.
In fact, they aren’t the only ones to face consequences over the event. At least four others have been fined S$1,000, with more facing similar punishment soon, the authority added.
With Chinese New Year celebrations next week, it warned the public to behave, saying it was “stepping up” enforcement measures.
Videos from Clarke Quay showed some mild mischief that might have been overlooked in a non-pandemic year, such as yanking lampposts, fighting, and popping champagne, with many neither wearing masks properly nor social distancing.
The authorities said earlier this month that they were reviewing CCTV footage to catch those who went too far.
Finance Minister Lawrence Wong referred to the incident as a “potential superspreader event,” though the venue has not been announced as a COVID cluster.
Yesterday marked the two-year anniversary of Singapore detecting its first COVID-19 case. New cases have been surging again since Jan. 1 and spiking dramatically in recent days. Nearly 3,500 new cases and one death were reported yesterday.
As has been the case elsewhere, Omicron’s assault has been pervasive but not severe. A 92-year-old woman today became the first reported death due to the fast-spreading variant. She contracted the virus from a family member. At least 70% of new cases are attributed to Omicron.
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