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The government will extend the support measures to tide affected businesses and individuals over the extended "Stabilisation Phase" from Oct. 25 to Nov. 21, the Multi-Ministry Taskforce (MTF) announced today (Oct. 20).

"Too risky" to allow more members of the same household to dine in

At the MTF virtual doorstop on Oct. 20, the finance minister Lawrence Wong, who is also the MTF co-chair, responded to the Restaurant Association of Singapore's request to allow more members from the same household to dine in.

Wong said:

"The Restaurant Association of Singapore has requested to allow members from the same household, to sit together in a restaurant in a table of five. We understand where the restaurant association is coming from. For now, we think it's still too risky to make such a move because of the pressure on the healthcare system. But it is indeed something we are looking into."

Wong also emphasised that the safe management measures are not static as the taskforce will continually review the situation to see if there are any scopes for "calibrated easing".

Wage support for employers

In light of the extended Stabilisation Phase, the government will extend the Jobs Support Scheme support at 25 per cent for sectors significantly affected by the continuing tightened measures.

These include:

• F&B
• Retail
• Cinemas
• Museums
• Art galleries
• Historical sites
• Family entertainment
• Tourism
• Gyms and fitness studios
• Performing arts
• Arts education

Half month rental waiver

The government will also provide a half-month rental waiver for qualifying tenants on government-owned commercial properties.

Qualifying tenant-occupiers and owner-occupiers of privately-owned commercial properties will also be given a half-month rental relief cash payout under the Rental Support Scheme (RSS).

Hawkers and drivers

Cooked food and market stallholders in centres managed by the National Environment Agency (NEA) or NEA-appointed operators will receive a half-month rental waiver.

To support taxi and private hire car drivers, the government will also extend the Covid-19 Driver Relief Fund payout at S$10 and S$5 per vehicle per day in November and December 2021 respectively.

The total sum of the support measures is S$640 million. This will be funded from the "higher-than-expected" revenues collected to date, MTF added. There will be no further draw on past reserves.

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Top image by Kow Zi Shan