As community cases start to increase over the past weeks, the authorities had previously hinted that rules may have to be tightened before Chinese New Year (CNY).
On Friday (22 Jan), details on these new measures were announced.
From next Tuesday (26 Jan), only 8 unique visitors will be allowed to visit each household per day.
Singaporeans are also encouraged to not visit more than 2 households daily.
According to the Ministry of Health (MOH), the measures were necessary after the recent spate of community cases — some of which are unlinked.
In light of the recent local infections, MOH will be limiting the number of individuals visiting each household.
From 26 Jan, only 8 unique visitors will be allowed to visit each household per day.
In addition, MOH advises individuals to not visit more than 2 households per day, “as much as possible”.
The new measures were announced 3 weeks prior to CNY on 12 Feb. Needless to say, the festive period will likely be significantly different compared to those in the past.
As of now, there will be no change to the maximum number of people allowed to gather in public spaces.
CNY traditions that many have grown accustomed to during the festive period will also be different this year.
For one, Singaporeans will not be allowed to say “auspicious phrases” while tossing yusheng with friends and family.
Diners are also required to have their masks on when during louhei.
To enforce these changes, MOH added that they will be increasing the number of checks conducted in public spaces like shopping centres and food establishments during the upcoming CNY period.
With these new changes, CNY will likely be a different and more muted affair this year.
Though many Singaporeans will understandably be disappointed by this, we hope they understand that these are ultimately done for all our safety.
Many countries have seen spikes in Covid-19 cases after the Christmas and New Year period last year.
Though it’s hard to say if this was in fact due to festive gatherings, the last thing we want is for something similar to happen in Singapore and risk having our nation return to ‘Phase 2’ or even worse, go through another ‘Circuit Breaker’.
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Featured image adapted from Unsplash.
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