The Singaporean government has announced that its plans to enter the next stage of reopening in mid-July is still intact and that those who have been fully vaccinated may be allowed to travel with fewer restrictions, gather in larger groups and even attend mass events. This comes amidst the island ramping up its vaccination rate by a whopping 70%.
As reported by Today Online, the nation’s Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said in a press conference on 24 June 2021 that Singapore’s Covid-19 task force is working on ‘potentially revising public health guidelines’ that would apply to fully vaccinated persons. Wong, who is also the co-chair for the task force confirmed that such plans will be announced when its ready.
Singapore’s Finance Minister, Lawrence Wong.
This revised public health guidelines may include less strict infection control measures when travelling and be allowed to engage in greater range of social activities such a gathering in larger groups as well as attending mass events.
For example, a Singapore resident coming back from travels may either serve a shortened stay-home notice or have it waived completely and replaced with more frequent testing, depending on the country where they are coming back from.
Furthermore, the next stage of the country’s opening may also allow five persons to dine-in at restaurants in comparison to only the two persons restriction in place now. As for activities and events, Singapore may also allow for large gatherings involving just fully vaccinated people and relax social distancing rules in such settings. Such activities will be applied to religious services, concerts, sporting events and more.
For illustration purposes.
Meanwhile, Channel News Asia reported that Singapore is accelerating its national Covid-19 vaccination programme exponentially. Starting from Saturday (26 June 2021), the country would be administering up to 80,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine daily – a 70% increase from its current 47,000 daily doses.
This was announced by Singapore’s Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on 24 June as the island city-state was able to bring forward the delivery of vaccine supplies into the country. Due to the supply being forwarded faster, Singapore would also bring forward the second doses of vaccination for those that have received the first dose.
Changi International Airport in Singapore on January 7, 2021.
As of 23 June 2021, Singapore has managed to administer more than 5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine. More than 3 million people or about 53% of Singapore’s population have received at least their first dose while 2 million people or 36% of the population have been fully vaccinated.
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