Groups Larger Than 5 Will See Fine, Including Customers At F&B Places
As Phase 2 reaches its 4th month and Covid-19 cases go down, some are ignoring the rule against groups of larger than 5, and authorities will fine them.
Authorities said today (22 Sep) they’ve ordered shut 3 more F&B places for breaching safe management measures, and fined another 4 places.
2 places accepted groups of larger than 5, even though they were seated apart. In 1 case, the group also mingled between tables.
The other place allowed people to consume alcohol after 10.30pm on their premises.
17 people were already fined as of 9 Sep for breaking rules. Don’t be one of them.
2 F&B places let in groups larger than 5
The 3 places are located at:
- 25 Church Street
- 39 Hong Kong Street
- Blk 261 Serangoon Central Drive, #01-27
The former 2 were both found allowing groups larger than 5.
On Saturday (12 Sep), enforcement officers from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) found 15 people seated across 4 tables in a restaurant at 39 Hong Kong Street.
It was a private dinner event and the group was intermingling.
As such, URA ordered the restaurant to close from 18-27 Sep.
Meanwhile, the Beer Factory was found letting in 3 groups, containing more than 5 people each, on 12 Sep as well.
They were also ordered shut from 18-27 Sep.
People drinking alcohol after 10.30pm at F&B stall
Finally, at Serangoon Central Drive, officers found people drinking alcohol at 10.55pm on Saturday (19 Sep).
The Singapore Food Agency ordered the drinks stall where they got the alcohol from, to close from 22 Sep-1 Oct.
You can’t drink alcohol at restaurants and other places after 10.30pm. Do that at home.
Another 4 F&B places were fined $1,000 for various breaches.
The punishments were meted out following a review of the breaches, as a follow-up to their statement on 16 Sep.
Authorities will fine customers in groups above 5
Authorities stepped up spot checks following revelations of places breaching measures.
Between 18-20 Sep, they visited 323 F&B places, and 18 of them had broken the rules. This isn’t a bad ratio, although having even 1 breach is probably too many.
The cases are now under review and their punishments will be meted out in due course.
Customers in groups larger than 5 will be fined, even if they’re sitting separately. Only those living in the same household are exempt.
The 1st offence is a $300 fine, while further offences are $1,000 and you may have to go to court.
This is on top of the punishments given to F&B places for allowing these groups to dine there.
Don’t test the system
In the army, there’s a popular saying — don’t test the system.
This means to knowingly do things which aren’t permitted. Seating in groups larger than 5 is exactly that, and you’re putting F&B places at risk too.
People definitely know they’re breaching measures, but do so anyway. It doesn’t pay to get fined $300 or more, and these measures are for safety purposes.
We all have to do our part to curb the spread of Covid-19.
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Featured image adapted from MSE.
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