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Singapore has lifted its travel ban for citizens of India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, effective October 26, allowing people with a 14-day travel history to these countries to enter the city-state. However, the Singapore government has stated that visitors from these countries will be subject to Category IV border controls.
The Category IV border rules are the strictest among other categories Singapore mandates, which involve a 10-day, stay-home notice period at a dedicated facility. The ministry said in a release that it has reviewed the Covid-19 situation in the six South Asian countries it was previously closed off to.
What are the Categories of Travel in Singapore?
Singapore has four categories of travel amid Covid-19, the strictest among which is Category IV. Four countries – Hong Kong, Macao, Mainland China, and Taiwan – are in the first category of travel, and visitors from here only have to take a PCR test upon arrival and remain in isolation until a negative result comes.
What Will Being in Category IV Mean for Indian Travellers?
Only Singapore citizens and permanent residents, as well as visitors under the ‘Death and Critical Illness Emergency Visits’ Lane, are permitted entry under this category. All other visitors, including those with prior entry approvals, are not permitted to enter Singapore.
The Death and Critical Illness Emergency Visit (DCEV) Lane is for all foreign visitors seeking urgent entry into Singapore to attend to the death or critical medical condition of a member of their immediate family in Singapore, the Ministry says in its guideliners. Per case, a maximum of two travellers may be admitted, it adds.
Under the category, visitors will have to:
• Take a COVID-19 PCR test within 48 hours before departure at an internationally accredited or recognised lab/clinic/medical facility.
• Serve a 10-day Stay-Home Notice (SHN) at an SHN Dedicated Facility.
• Take a COVID-19 PCR test on Day 10 of SHN.
Why Were the Measures Relaxed?
The ministry had said the situation in these countries has stabilised for some time. “There is no longer a need for strict rules that prevent travellers from these countries from landing here,” the Straits Times reported Health Minister Ong Ye Kung as saying. The health ministry said changes that come into effect on Wednesday include the loosening of measures for travellers from Singapore’s closest neighbours, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Singapore’s Quarantine-free Programme
Singapore recently welcomed the first travellers under an expanded quarantine-free programme, marking a big step towards the aviation hub restoring its international links. Singapore Airlines flights from Amsterdam and London had arrived on Wednesday under the so-called vaccinated travel lanes (VTL).
From this week, the lanes were extended to vaccinated arrivals from Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Britain and the United States, who can enter Singapore without quarantine if they pass COVID-19 tests. Singapore earlier opened the lane to arrivals from Germany and Brunei and will include South Korea from mid-November.
High Cases in Singapore Prompt Local Lockdowns
While Singapore is opening further, a recent rise in cases has prompted tighter measures locally, including limiting social gatherings to two people and only allowing vaccinated people to enter malls. Mask-wearing is also mandatory, with some violators fined or even jailed for breaching COVID-19 regulations.
On Monday, the United States advised citizens against travel to Singapore, raising its alert for the city-state to its highest risk level. Singapore had, until recently, kept the virus largely under control through border closures and strict contact-tracing and quarantining.
Singapore on Friday reported a total of 165,663 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic. The disease has claimed 294 lives so far in the country.
With inputs from Reuters, PTI.
