Travellers check in for the flight at the Singapore Airlines counter in the departure hall at Changi International Airport in Singapore on December 2, 2021.
Roslan Rahman|AFP|Getty Images
Singapore will freeze brand-new ticket sales for quarantine-free travel in an effort to restrict direct exposure to imported omicron cases, the health ministry stated in a declaration Wednesday.
The suspension, which starts Thursday and goes throughJan 20, uses to flights and buses into the city-state.
Travelers who have actually currently scheduled tickets under Singapore’s immunized travel lane plans will still have the ability to go into the nation without serving quarantines.
“Our border measures will help to buy us time to study and understand the Omicron variant, and to strengthen our defences, including enhancing our healthcare capacity, and getting more people vaccinated and boosted,” the health ministry stated.
Singapore has actually up until now found 65 imported omicron cases. As of Monday, there were 6 regional omicron cases in the nation, the health ministry stated.
About 96% of Singapore’s qualified population is totally immunized, or about 87% of the overall population, according to health ministry information. More than a 3rd of the overall population (34%) has actually gotten a booster. Shots for kids in between 5 and 11 years of ages have actually been authorized and are set to start Monday.
When the ticket sale suspension ends onJan 20, the variety of individuals permitted to check out Singapore without serving quarantines will be momentarily minimized, according to journalism release.
The health ministry stated the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and the Ministry of Trade and Industry will offer more information on immunized travel lanes through air and land, respectively.
Travelers who go into Singapore under quarantine-free plans need to take a PCR test on arrival, and everyday antigen quick tests for the very first 7 days in the nation.
Singapore’s immunized travel lane program was type in the nation’s pivot to a “living with Covid” method, resuming borders while keeping specific anti-virus procedures in location. Freezing brand-new ticket sales for this plan seems the greatest yet downsize of that effort.
Since omicron emerged, the federal government has actually tightened up screening procedures for tourists and delayed the launch of quarantine-free travel lanes with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Singapore has likewise limited travel from African nations consisting of South Africa, which initially found the omicron version.
