Minister: Gatherings Will Be Up to 8 People in Phase 3 & It Can Happen Before the End of the Year

For what seemed like forever, we’ve been gathering like Power Rangers or the Planeteers from Captain Planet, limiting our gathering to just 5 people.

Soon, the green ranger can finally join us and we might finally be able to gather in a slightly bigger group.

By bigger, I mean up to 8 people.

Minister: Gatherings Will Be Up to 8 People in Phase 3 & It Can Happen Before the End of the Year

It’s been a while since we last saw a press conference by the task force tackling Covid-19, and when they appear today, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong looks even more handsome today when he told everyone about the plans for Phase Three.

Or to be more specific, the size of social gathering.

During the press conference, he said that when Phase 3 comes, social gathering of up to 8 people might be allowed.

Households can also receive up to 8 visitors.

Minister Gan said, “This would allow families with more than five persons to be able to get together and enjoy some face-to-face time that no amount of virtual interaction can replace.”

They had actually wanted to increase the limit to 10, but it would be difficult to implement safe distancing measures in public places, so 8 is more manageable.

Now, the next question is of course this: When is Phase 3 coming?

There’s no concrete answer, but Education Minister Lawrence Wong said, “That is the big question and the answer is that it really depends on all of us, because if we work together, cooperate and comply with the requirements and the measures, then we can keep community transmission rates low.

“On the other hand, if we let our guard down and new clusters emerge, then this timeline will have to be pushed back, and we do not know when we can resume.”

However, it can happen before the end of the year.

Reader Bao: Which can be tomorrow?

Before the end of the year, my friend.

Reader Bao: Which can be tomorrow.

You can, however, help expedite that: one of the conditions to enter Phase 3 is that 70% of the population must be on the TraceTogether programme. You can read more about TraceTogether here, or watch this video to the end to understand how it works (and please subscribe to our YouTube channel for more informative videos!):

Capacity at Events Such as Religious Services and Wedding Receptions Could be Increased

When Phase 3 kicks in, the capacity at events such as religious services and wedding receptions could be increased, allowing up to 50 people each at multiple zones, depending on the size of the venue.

Currently, the limit is 100 with two zones, and each zone can only take up to 50 people.

However, it should be noted that the increase in the size of social gathering and the increase in capacity in events won’t happen at the same time—like how we slowly reopen the economy, they’ll be implemented progressively as well, so we shouldn’t expect a “big bang” when Phase 3 happens.