Singapore: Singapore’s government on Friday tightened Covid-19 pandemic-related restrictions to a level not seen since mid-2020, banning dining at restaurants and capping events at 100 people.
The restrictions will continue for one month from Sunday and include limiting in-person meetings to groups of no more than two at a time, reports dpa news agency.
“If you want to go out for anything, grocery shopping, exercise, maximum of two persons henceforth,” said Lawrence Wong, incoming Finance Minister and co-chair of the government’s pandemic response team.
“This will be difficult for everyone, but if we all play our part, we will succeed in stemming its spread,” said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, with regard to the virus.
The Ministry of Health reported 52 new coronavirus cases on Friday, the highest daily number recorded since September 2020.
The city-state’s sole lockdown ran from April to early June last year.
While saying he hopes another will not be needed, Wong warned on Friday that “we certainly will not rule out even more stringent measures”.
The new curbs, the second tightening since the start of the month, will clash with Singapore’s hosting of the Shangri-La Dialogue, a meeting of Defence Ministers set for early June and to be attended by US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Singapore has one of the world’s lowest pandemic death tolls, at 31, and has reported 61,453 cases, most of them dating to mid-2020 and recorded among migrant workers living in crowded dormitories.
