Phase 2 of the measures taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 saw the reopening of F&B dining outlets, but still with appropriate social distancing and hygiene measures put in place.
This degree of freedom with rules in place will allow for Singapore to make more of a smooth transition towards the “normal” again, yet some restaurants still aren’t following suit.
23 F&B Outlets Found To Break The Rules
During stepped-up enforcement checks by the authorities over the weekend of 12 and 13 Sep, 23 different F&B outlets were found to have breached safe management measures in light of COVID-19.
Breaches included letting customers sit in more than groups of five and accepting reservations for such groups, as well as selling and allowing customers to consume alcohol after 10:30pm.
149 outlets in “known hotspots” were inspected over that weekend.
Additional checks were also conducted on Wednesday, 16 Sep, where 7 more outlets were found to have breached the rules out of the 57 places visited.
15 F&B Outlets Were Fined
In a media release from Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) on 17 Sep, they said that 15 F&B outlets were fined for breaching these measures.
For allowing parties of more than five to sit together, mingle together despite being at different tables, and not maintaining a 1 metre distance between tables, ten of the outlets were fined $1,000.
This included a Tanjong Pagar restaurant where 12 people were found to be sitting together.
Customers were also found to have been consuming alcohol at about 10:45pm in a Punggol restaurant.
The other 5 outlets were found to be repeat offenders, and were fined $2,000 for that.
So that means, in 3 days, $20,000 worth of fines were issued. Yikes.
Some Outlets Were Ordered To Close
Out of the 23 outlets that were caught, three of them were ordered to close for having breached more serious measures.
One of them was Jiang Hu Xia Ke, a seafood restaurant at Orchard Plaza. Walking in to the restaurant, one might think there was nothing wrong going on with people pouring tea for one another to toast, but upon closer inspection it would become obvious that whatever was in those teapots wasn’t actually tea.
Yep, the sneaky geniuses over at Jiang Hu Xia Ke served alcohol in teapots to avoid getting caught by the authorities for selling and allowing customers to consume alcohol after 10:30pm.
However, the authorities managed to catch 13 people at the restaurant pouring drinks from the metal teapots at 11pm on 12 Sep.
“Investigations revealed that the teapots contained beer, and the restaurant supervisor admitted to concealing alcohol consumption using the teapots,” the media release stated. The restaurant also hid bottles of beer at the bottom of the fridge used to store other drinks.
Another restaurant, 96 Food Fusion & Bar at Jurong East, was found to have allowed eight people to sit at one long table and intermingle on the same day.
For accepting a reservation for 10 people, a restaurant at Chinatown also faced the same order to close.
The group of 10 at Frog Meat Fish Head were seated at two different tables in the same private dining room when authorities arrived at around 10pm.
A staff member claimed that the two groups did not know each other, but upon further questioning, the group admitted that they were actually colleagues.
For such extreme evasion tactics, all three outlets were ordered to close for a period of 10 days. No more beer from teapots.
Authorities Say There Are More Checks To Come
The MSE held that COVID-19 remains a grave threat, and that authorities will review such breaches as well as the appropriate actions to be taken, including issuing fines and ordering temporary closure for these outlets.
Dining out is a considerably risky activity, for it involves prolonged periods of social interaction in enclosed spaces without the use of a mask, they added, with Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu saying it was regrettable that many outlets have been breaching these rules.
In a Facebook post, she wrote that “the errant actions of a few can jeopardise our collective efforts to keep our communities safe from COVID-19. That is why we have been stepping up our enforcement checks on F&B outlets.”
“A resurgence of COVID-19 infections would set us back in the progress that we have made in transiting towards a new normal,” she added.
She also criticised these outlets for putting Singaporeans at risk, and advised everyone to keep to safe distancing rules as well as practice responsibility while eating out.
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