Singaporeans can look forward to dining in at eateries next week but only solo or in pairs instead of groups of five, as earlier announced.
Lawrence Wong from the COVID-19 task force told a press conference today that the government was restrategizing its reopening plans following a new outbreak at 115 Bukit Merah View Market and Food Centre, where more than 50 people have been infected. Social gatherings may be increased to groups of five from mid-July, he added.
“Regrettably, we are unable to proceed with our second stage of reopening in light of the latest outbreaks and big cluster that we have discovered in Bukit Merah, and now we have to adjust our plans,” Wong, who is also the finance minister, said.
Gyms and fitness studios can resume indoor activities for groups of up to 30 people but wedding receptions have to be put on hold till mid-July, the Ministry of Health said.
The multi-ministry taskforce tightened coronavirus restrictions for a month in May and promised to reopen again in two phases starting this week, with dining in at eateries for groups of five scheduled to resume on June 21. But the continuous string of community transmissions and unlinked cases has prompted the taskforce to rethink its reopening plans.
Seventeen out of the 20 locally transmitted cases recorded yesterday were linked to the Bukit Merah cluster. The outbreak was first reported on Monday when a 79-year-old Singaporean man was reclassified as linked to the outbreak.
Singapore has recorded a total of 62,366 COVID-19 cases and 34 deaths.
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