SINGAPORE - Work pass holders and their dependants will be allowed to enter Singapore from higher-risk countries or regions from next Tuesday (Aug 10), provided they are fully vaccinated before arrival.
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will resume issuing entry approvals for this group, as part of a review of Singapore's border restrictions in the light of a high local vaccination rate, the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced on Friday (Aug 6).
There will also be differentiated measures for other fully vaccinated travellers.
MOH said a traveller will be considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the full dosage of any Covid-19 vaccine under the World Health Organisation's Emergency Use Listing.
These include the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty and Moderna mRNA vaccines used in Singapore's national vaccination scheme as well as the vaccines made by Sinovac, Sinopharm, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and the Serum Institute of India's Covishield vaccine.
From 11.59pm on Aug 20, all fully vaccinated travellers from Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, Norway, South Korea and Switzerland will be allowed to apply to opt out of serving their stay-home notice (SHN) at dedicated facilities, and serve the 14-day SHN at their own place of residence instead.
The MOH said this list will be updated from time to time depending on the public health risk assessment.
To be eligible, travellers must have remained in the respective countries for the last 21 consecutive days before leaving for Singapore and must either be staying alone or with other fully vaccinated household members who are under SHN for the same duration and with the same travel history.
Singaporeans and permanent residents can apply to opt out of staying at a dedicated facility on the SafeTravel website three days before their scheduled arrival in Singapore.
Other travellers can apply as part of their entry application process from 11.59pm on Aug 20 onwards.
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All travellers must show proof of approval to serve SHN at their place of residence when they arrive in Singapore.
They must remain in their place of residence at all times during the SHN period and will be required to wear an electronic monitoring device to ensure compliance.
"Action will be taken against those who breach the requirements of the SHN or make false declarations," said the MOH.
"Travellers will also be required to utilise specially designated transport services to and from their place of residence and bear the costs for these transport arrangements."
Currently, travellers from New Zealand, Brunei, mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan are already allowed to apply to serve SHN at their place of residence.
Those arriving from other countries or regions must serve SHN at a dedicated facility. This includes Israel, which was previously on the list but has seen an increase in cases recently.
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.