‘Too risky’ for five members of the same household to dine-in still, says MTF co-chair Lawrence Wong

Allowing more than five members of the same household to dine in is still “too risky”, said co-chair of the Multi Ministry Taskforce for COVID-19 (MTF) Lawrence Wong on Wednesday (Oct 20).

Mr Wong was responding to a call from the Restaurant Association of Singapore to open up dining-in at F&B outlets for fully vaccinated individuals to groups of five. He said that while he understands where the association is coming from, such a move is still considered a high risk as it might increase the pressure on the health care system. 

The MTF on Wednesday said that nearly 90 per cent of all isolation beds and more than two-thirds of ICU beds in Singapore are occupied. While authorities are trying to increase the capacity, the authorities are also wary of overstretching medical personnel. 

However, he assured that easing the dine-in restriction is something the Government is looking into.

While the Stabilisation Phase has been extended till Nov 21, Mr Wong added that there is a possibility of some measures being eased earlier than that.  

The authorities will continue to review the situation in the following weeks to see whether restrictions can be eased.

“In the meantime, we seek everyone’s understanding of why we need the measures that we have today, and also your support to protect importantly our healthcare system and our healthcare workers,” said Mr Wong.