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Barbecue pits at Singapore parks and beaches will reopen from Friday, March 18, as good old familiar smells of smoke and grilled meat are set to fill the air once again.

And the BBQ pits at popular parks and beaches, such as East Coast Park, Changi Beach Park, and Labrador Nature Reserve are fully booked for Saturday, March 19 -- the first weekend barbequing at public pits are allowed again.

About 200 barbecue pit bookings for this weekend were processed within a day, CNA reported.

Nearly 850 camping permits have also been issued.

Hundreds of applications processed once released

Applications for camping permits and the booking of barbecue pits in gardens and parks managed by NParks could be made via the AXS system starting 10am on March 15, the day safe management measures in Singapore were streamlined as the Omicron wave has likely peaked and Covid-19 cases are falling.

Barbeque pits in Housing Board estates and condominiums are also opened for booking.

Barriers and markings torn down

Since March 15, safe distancing barriers have come down and markings are being removed, as spaces and shelters in public are reopened -- to good cheer.

Restrictions such as the blocking-off of public seating areas have been lifted, given that they do not have a big impact on the spread of the virus.

Safe distancing is no longer required in mask-on settings.

What to remember when out gathering

The streamlining covers five areas: Group sizes, mask wearing, workplace rules, safe distancing, and capacity limits.

The maximum permitted group size for social gatherings remains at five.

Households will also be allowed to host five guests at any one time.

Campers will be required to have their tents at least 5m apart to allow for safe distancing.

The number of campers should be kept at five persons per camping permit, following prevailing permitted group size.

One of the biggest changes applies to team sports, where up to 30 people will be allowed to resume from March 15 at selected venues, given that there has been no clear evidence that transient contact while playing sports leads to infections.

As part of the easing of rules, public spaces might see increased number of visitors, with up to 15,000 vaccinated migrant workers permitted to visit public places on each weekday, and up to 30,000 on each of the weekends and public holidays.

This is up from the current quota of 3,000 and 6,000 in either situation.

Does not amount to relaxation of rules

However, the simplifying, streamlining and removing of inconsistencies in rules does not amount to a relaxation of rules, the multi-ministry task force said when it announced the easing of rules on March 11.

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