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Things You Need to Know When You’re Dining in a Restaurant or Hawker Centre Today

2021-08-10 , 2:34 pm

You probably woke up today feeling like a million bucks.

No, it’s not because you had a really good night’s sleep or because your partner ordered bubble tea for breakfast.

It’s because today (10 Aug) is the day where we can finally dine in at eateries.

Yes, after weeks of eating lukewarm food indoors like sad introverts, residents can finally go out and have a meal with their friends and family.

However, the rules are different for vaccinated and unvaccinated people, and you’ll need to provide proof of your vaccination.

Confused? Here’s everything you need to know about the new dining in regulations:

Up to 5 Fully Vaccinated People Allowed to Dine in at Restaurants

From today, those who are fully vaccinated can dine in at restaurants in groups of up to five.

A person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccine, or if they recovered from COVID-19 and received one dose of either vaccine.

Those jabbed with vaccines approved under the World Health Organization’s emergency use listing, including the Sinovac, Sinopharm, and AstraZeneca vaccines, will also be considered fully vaccinated.

The only unvaccinated people that will be allowed to eat at restaurants are:

Children aged 12 and below, as long as all children in the dining group are from the same household
People who have a negative pre-event test result for the duration of their meal from an MOH-approved COVID-19 test provider within the last 24 hours
People who have recovered from COVID-19 and have a valid pre-event testing exemption notice

Unvaccinated Individuals Can Also Dine Out, But Only At Coffee Shops & Hawker Centres

Good news for unvaccinated individuals; all residents can dine out at hawker centres and coffee shops regardless of vaccination status.

You will be restricted to groups of two, however.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) explained that they’re making this concession because these places are open and naturally ventilated.

Diners Need to Show Proof of Vaccination at Restaurants

Before you and your friends stuff your face with food, you’ll have to provide proof of your vaccination to an employee at the restaurant.

If you’ve received the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine, your vaccination status will be reflected on your TraceTogether and HealthHub app.

Businesses using the SafeEntry (Business) app will also be able to get this information when customers check in with their TraceTogether app or token.

As for Sinovac vaccine recipients, their vaccination status will be displayed on the HealthHub app.

Hard Copies of Overseas Vaccination Certs Not Allowed

Unfortunately, if you’ve been inoculated in another country, you can’t use an overseas vaccination certificate as proof of vaccination.

MOH explained that it’d be difficult to verify the authenticity of these certificates, which are issued in different formats and languages.

Instead, Singaporeans, PRs, and long-term pass holders who were vaccinated abroad will first have to provide documents of proof to an approved provider and take a serology test to confirm that their vaccination has been effective.

Once this test comes back positive, their vaccinations status will be reflected on the TraceTogether and HealthHub apps.

MOH is still working out a similar process for short-term visitors who have been vaccinated overseas.

Whether you’re vaccinated or unvaccinated, do remember to keep your masks on at all times when you’re not eating or drinking, as well as return your trays and clear your tables after your meals!

And also, is it just us, but did you notice that hawker centres and coffeeshops are fully packed during lunch hours today, while eateries and restaurants still look relatively empty?