Hundreds gathered at Clarke Quay to ring in the new year, and now law enforcement is hunting for those whose carousing broke the rules, even if they were blackout drunk.
The authorities are reviewing CCTV footage and will call in those who breached COVID-19 measures after hundreds, many unmasked, huddled in Clarke Quay for a loud celebration despite pandemic health measures, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said last night.
“I can understand why people are keen to celebrate the new year, but such actions are not acceptable especially when we are still in the midst of a pandemic, and so the enforcement agencies are continuing their investigations, they are reviewing CCTV footage to identify the culprits,” Wong said.
Videos of the incident, which took place just outside Riverside Point’s stretch of bars, showed hooliganism such as tugging on a lamppost, fighting, and popping a champagne bottle. Many were seen without masks worn properly and not socially distanced.
@shihanahnafshoeb Pov: you are too old to celebrate New Years at Clarke Quay
♬ original sound – Shihan SA
Wongs stressed that the incident was a “potential superspreader event” that Singapore “can’t afford” to repeat for next month’s Chinese New Year celebrations.
“Our investigations show that this was not an organized event. What happened was that people started gathering together, they got caught up in the moment, and soon we have a crowd of more than one hundred people at that location with many flouting the rules,” Wong said.
After two months of a steady decline, cases began rising around Christmas. Health officials yesterday recorded 805 cases and two deaths, and 440 Omicron cases. In total, the city has reported 282,401 COVID-19 cases and 2,252 Omicron cases since the beginning of the pandemic.
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