Businesses ready to welcome more customers as curbs ease
Businesses are gearing up to welcome more customers, with the easing of Covid-19 restrictions from today including increasing the cap on group sizes from two to five.
Some are looking forward to welcoming more families for the remainder of the June school holidays, given the increase in maximum size of social gatherings.
The Health Ministry had said last week that Singapore will gradually reopen in two steps after it put in place strict measures to curb a worrying spike in virus cases.
The first step of reopening today will see operating capacity limits for attractions, cruises, museums and public libraries go up from 25 per cent to 50 per cent.
The size limits for events such as movie screenings, worship services and marriage solemnisations will also be increased. Pre-event testing will be required for events with more than 50 attendees.
In the second step, slated to take place from June 21, dining in for groups of up to five may be allowed.
Orchard Hotel said it saw an increase in website traffic by 40 per cent following the Government's announcement on June 10 on the easing of measures.
Mr Greg Allan, vice-president of South-east Asia operations for Millennium Hotels and Resorts, which runs Orchard Hotel, said: "With two weeks left to the school holidays, many families are keen to book staycations so the lifting of precautionary measures is certainly a welcome move."
The hotel has worked with vendors to launch activities targeted at families, he added. These include dim sum cooking classes and virtual reality game experiences.
SneakPeek Singapore, which organises walking, hiking and kayaking tours, said it is preparing the logistics for larger groups, such as readying more kayaks.
The loosened restrictions will also benefit the likes of Kitten Sanctuary Singapore, which is a non-profit animal welfare group for cats.
Its executive director Jessica Seet said the group will now be able to take more visitors and allow more volunteers to help out.
LIFELINE
"Visitors are our lifeline to cover (the various) costs for the rescued cats and kittens... so the easing of restrictions helps us to stay afloat," said Ms Seet.
The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore said on Saturday that four mosques will pilot a new zone in order to offer more spaces for Friday prayer on June 25.
In a Facebook post yesterday evening, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong thanked the public for observing tightened measures this past month.
"If all goes well, we should be able to open up further by next week," he said. "In the new normal, such disruptions will happen from time to time, but we can still carry on with our lives."
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