Singapore is re-establishing strict restraint rules after the Covid cases went up

Singapore has re-imposed drastic social exclusion measures, banning restaurant canteens and restricting gatherings to two people as a result of new Covid-19 cases.

The cuts will take effect on Sunday, just weeks before the country plans to host the Shangri-La Dialogue, the annual summit of the defense summit, which would be the first major international event since the pandemic began in Singapore last year.

The measures will also delay the opening of a travel bubble with Hong Kong, which began on May 26, the second time that efforts to resume flights between Asian financial centers have been delayed.

Singapore has taken an aggressive approach after reporting 71 locally transmitted cases in the past week, 15 of which are unrelated.

Officials recorded 24 infections on Thursday, a relatively low level by global standards. But in recent times the growth of cases and the emergence of new clusters have led to months of single-digit or locally contaminated daily infections.

Authorities have also identified a new set of 46 cases at Changi Airport that could easily transmit the B. 1.617.2 coronavirus variant, which was first discovered in India. A separate cluster of a hospital in Singapore includes this variant.

“We are on high alert,” Singapore Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said on Friday.

Ong Ye Kung, Minister of Transport, said the rise in cases is “very likely to meet Singapore’s resumption criteria” as it makes the trip to Hong Kong a bubble.

The new measures will be in force for a month, but will be reviewed in two weeks. Outside gatherings or home visits will be limited to a maximum of two people and restaurants will only be allowed to take or deliver. Working from home will also become the default organization.

The Shangri-La Interview attracts top military officials, diplomats and arms manufacturers and was scheduled to take place from 4 June. Among the confirmed participants is U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

The International Institute for Strategic Research, which is organizing the event, thought it had maintained its “commitment” to organizing the conference. “We will quickly review the existing safe management measures to ensure the highest levels of safety for all our participants and the wider Singapore community, taking into account today’s announcements,” he added.

The World Economic Forum also announced this holds its annual meeting in Singapore In August than in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, the health crisis in the Asian city subsided.

The World Economic Forum did not respond to requests for comment.

The new restrictions have for months discouraged some residents who looked like normal lives. “Blocking is a good way to call without blocking,” the city’s chief financial officer said.