Easing of COVID curbs on 24 Feb postponed due to surge in cases: MOH

SINGAPORE — The streamlining of COVID-19 safe management measures (SMM) scheduled for Thursday (24 February) has been postponed due to the ongoing surge in daily cases, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Thursday.

The multi-ministry taskforce on COVID-19 (MTF) had planned to allow, among others, groups of five to visit homes at any one time and social gatherings of up to five at workplaces.

Adjustments to vaccination-differentiated SMMs (VDS) for unvaccinated children aged 12 and below, as well as the resumption of team sports, were also in the works.

The MTF announced the streamlining of SMMs to a set of five core parameters last Wednesday. It was originally intended to be implemented in phases on Thursday and 4 March, as it involves extensive amendments to existing regulations that have accumulated over the past two years.

However, due to the current surge in daily cases, and the extensive work involved in going through the detailed rules across different settings, the MTF has reviewed the matter and decided to consolidate and streamline the SMMs in one go instead.

The revised date will be announced shortly, said MOH. There will be no changes to the current rules.

On Wednesday, health authorities confirmed 20,312 new COVID cases – the second consecutive day that Singapore reported over 20,000 new daily cases – with the total case count at 642,605.

The day before, the city-state confirmed a record high of 26,032 infections, almost twice Monday's tally.

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