Singapore has joined the growing roster of nations to ease Covid entry restrictions. With infection rates stabilizing, the southeast Asian hub is removing the requirement for vaccinated travelers to take a pre-arrival test, whilst limits on group sizes and safe distancing are also being scrapped, as from tomorrow.
The relaxation comes as daily infection numbers continue to fall and have stabilized, giving the government the ability to proceed with further easing of community and travel measures.
Singapore’s alert level is also been lowered for the first time since the pandemic started. The Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (Dorscon) level, which indicates the current disease situation, will also be moved from orange to yellow from Tuesday.
“With these changes, we can now have a well-deserved breather, after two very difficult years of fighting the virus,” said Lawrence Wong, finance minister and co-chair of the government’s coronavirus taskforce.
“But let’s always remember, we are getting closer to the finish line, but the race is not over and the pandemic is certainly not over.”
However many of the restrictions will remain in place for non-vaccinated individuals. And the mandatory wearing of face masks in indoor public settings and on public transport will continue.
This comes as daily infection numbers continue to fall and have stabilized, giving the Government the confidence to proceed with further easing of community and travel measures, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said during a press conference: “On the whole, things continue to look up for us. Our social resilience is strong and now we are in a comfortable position. We can therefore afford to take further steps to restore pre-Covid-19 normalcy.”