Singapore to waive quarantine for all vaccinated travelers post-omicron

Singapore — Singapore plans to allow vaccinated visitors from all countries to skip quarantine on arrival when the Omicron wave is over, officials said at a virtual press conference Wednesday.

Health Minister On Ye Kung said travel rules are aimed at preventing infectious diseases from being imported into the country, but cases in that category account for only 1% of daily cases in Singapore. “No longer has a significant impact” on Covid’s situation.

He said the future focus will be on whether visitors to Singapore will become seriously ill and burden the healthcare system.

“In practice, you shouldn’t put too much emphasis on SHN or traveler testing. [and] More on ensuring that they are fully vaccinated and boosted, “he said.

“Instead of using vaccinated driving lanes or VTLs in certain countries that appear to be at low risk, in fact, allow fully vaccinated travelers from all countries to travel SHN-free. We need to, “said Ong, Singapore.

“This transition needs to be done after the Omicron waves have peaked and began to subside, not now,” he added.

Authorities did not set a date for the new policy to come into effect, but Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong said the Omicron wave could peak in a few weeks.

To reopen the border, Singapore previously announced several so-called vaccinated travel lanes that would allow travelers from certain countries to visit without providing quarantine.

However, once the new border measures come into force, travelers vaccinated from all countries will not be subject to quarantine requirements.

“Our ultimate goal is to allow all vaccinated travelers to travel without quarantine,” said SIswaran, Minister of Transport.

As Singapore moves to a “vaccinated traveler system,” it will first change the way visitors classify their arrival countries.

Starting February 22, the country will be divided into three major groups — restricted, general and low infection. The majority of countries belong to the general category and are subject to the same entry requirements unless VTL is initiated.

Currently, no country falls into the restricted category, but authorities say the country or region may be transferred to it if a new mutation of concern is detected.

Separately, according to a Ministry of Health press release, previously postponed vaccinated travel lanes with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will begin on February 25. Authorities also announced that new VTLs for Israel, Hong Kong and the Philippines will be launched.

Singapore reported a record 19,420 new Covid cases on Tuesday.

In the last 28 days, 99.7% of the reported cases had mild or no symptoms.

City-states have reported 497,997 Covid cases and 913 related deaths since the inception of the Covid pandemic.

Approximately 90% of Singapore’s population has been vaccinated twice under a national vaccination program, and 64% of the population has been boosted.