Singapore Tightens Quarantine Measures... Outdoor Gatherings Limited to 2 People or Fewer

[Photo by EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] The Singapore government strengthened COVID-19 prevention measures again on the 14th due to a recent increase in COVID-19 cases.

The whole-of-government COVID-19 task force announced at a press conference that starting from the 16th, the allowed number of people for outdoor gatherings will be reduced from 5 to 2, and dining inside restaurants will be prohibited, according to local media such as The Straits Times.

With the ban on indoor dining, restaurants, food courts, and street vendors will only be allowed to offer delivery or takeout. Wedding receptions are also banned. The number of visits a guest can make to a household has been reduced from five times a day to twice a day.

Employers must encourage work-from-home if possible. Intense indoor exercise and facial massages are also prohibited.

This measure, which will last until the 13th of next month, was introduced amid growing concerns over a resurgence of COVID-19 as Changi Airport was identified as a cluster infection hotspot and cases with unknown infection routes increased.

Lawrence Wong, Minister for Education and head of the task force, explained in a virtual press conference that many Singaporeans would have visited Changi Airport in recent weeks, so stronger preventive measures are necessary. Minister Wong also urged, "We recommend all citizens to stay home as much as possible and only go out for unavoidable reasons."

As of the previous day, there were 46 COVID-19 cases linked to Changi Airport, the highest among 11 cluster infection sources. Notably, among the 32 new cases reported the day before, 24 were local transmissions, the highest since July 11 last year.

The increase in local COVID-19 transmissions is causing greater concern as Singapore was planning to gradually reopen its borders by the end of this month.

There are also prospects that the travel bubble between Singapore and Hong Kong, scheduled to begin on the 26th, may be postponed. The travel bubble refers to the normalization of air travel allowing people who test negative for COVID-19 to travel between the two places without quarantine.

The upcoming Shangri-La Dialogue, an Asian security conference, is scheduled to be held in Singapore in early next month, and the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting will be held in Singapore in August.