The Singapore health ministry said on Tuesday that social restrictions will be tightened from July 22, including halting restaurant dining and banning gatherings of more than two people, as coronavirus cases rise further.
The restrictions will be reviewed in two weeks as the country nears its milestone of vaccinating two-thirds of its population by Aug. 9.
New coronavirus cases almost doubled on Monday from the previous day and Ong Ye Kung, the health minister, said 184 new infections were expected to be confirmed on Tuesday.
"We have to make this preemptive tightening so that we can cut back on our overall activity levels and slow down the transmission," said Lawrence Wong, co-chair of the coronavirus task force.
"The objective now is to buy us time so that we can vaccinate more people, especially our seniors." Once the situation stabilizes, Singapore will have more lenient measures for those vaccinated, Wong said.
The government of Singapore is pushing to boost take-up rates among the elderly, where 30% remain unvaccinated.
The restrictions will be reviewed in two weeks as the country nears its milestone of vaccinating two-thirds of its population by Aug. 9.
New coronavirus cases almost doubled on Monday from the previous day and Ong Ye Kung, the health minister, said 184 new infections were expected to be confirmed on Tuesday.
"We have to make this preemptive tightening so that we can cut back on our overall activity levels and slow down the transmission," said Lawrence Wong, co-chair of the coronavirus task force.
"The objective now is to buy us time so that we can vaccinate more people, especially our seniors." Once the situation stabilizes, Singapore will have more lenient measures for those vaccinated, Wong said.
The government of Singapore is pushing to boost take-up rates among the elderly, where 30% remain unvaccinated.
