The Singapore’s Ministry of Health started to ease Covid-19 restrictions for fully vaccinated people starting August 10. It lifted some restrictions on the number of people allowed to dine in restaurants and attend sporting events, weddings, meetings, church services, etc.
Finance Minister Lawrence Wong pushed the plan to ease restrictions for vaccinated Singaporeans as the city-state looks to move to a “new normal,” according to CNBC.
Capacity limits increased from 50 to 500, but remains at 50 for those who aren’t yet fully vaccinated.
Restrictions will ease again on August 19, with capacities at the above-mentioned venues rising to 1,000. Meanwhile, cruise ships, museums, public libraries and other attractions will have their capacities lifted from 25 percent to 50 percent. At the border, fully vaccinated travelers from Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, Norway, Korea and Switzerland able to opt out of hotel quarantines and spend their two-week quarantine at home.
In a statement, the Ministry of Health said the more relaxed measures were in response to rising vaccination rates, with 67 percent of the population fully vaccinated and 78 percent having received at least one dose as of 5 August.
It said Singapore would “adopt a vaccination-differentiated approach when adjusting our safe management and border measures.
“Fully vaccinated individuals, who have good protection against the risk of infection or severe illnesses, will be able to engage in a wider range of activities. Unvaccinated individuals will need to exercise tighter safe management measures to protect themselves and those around them.
“Even with high vaccination coverage, we may still have vaccine breakthroughs and a large number of daily Covid-19 cases within the community. Nevertheless, with the majority of our population protected through vaccination, we should be able to keep hospitalization and ICU cases low. We will continue to monitor the situation, especially the incidence of severe illness from Covid-19, as we continue with our re-opening plans.”
Singapore’s two casinos, Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa, are currently operating at reduced capacities, including a limit of two players per gaming table. MBS reopened its casino August 5 after a two-week closure due to a cluster of Covid-19 cases originated there. The operator says the casino now joins other venues and attractions at Marina Bay Sands that are currently operating, adhering to the highest safety, hygiene, and testing standards often going beyond regulatory guidelines.
The company has also pointed to its high vaccination rates amongst staff, which have reached nearly 90 percent.
