Ifah SakinahTravel, travel, travel: That’s a thought that is certainly on many minds right now. For Singaporeans wondering when they can venture abroad again, Singapore’s multi-ministry task force sheds light on it during a virtual press conference. The short answer: Singapore’s risk-based approach to determine the possibility of overseas travel.
Also read: What You Can Still Do in Singapore During Phase 2 (Heightened Alert)
Singapore’s risk-based approach in allowing overseas travel
Image credit: @shawnanggg
What that essentially means is that Singapore differentiates countries by risk and infection levels. Inbound travellers, including Singapore citizens, will not have to serve the mandatory quarantine if they arrive from countries designated as safe. Conversely, people arriving from countries deemed unsafe must serve the mandatory quarantine at a designated facility; this applies to Singaporeans as well.
In fact, Singapore has been implementing this risk-based approach since the pandemic began. It will continue to do so for the next few months.
Will Singapore wait for neighbouring countries to achieve higher vaccination rates before resuming travel?
Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said that Singapore will potentially be able to open up with more destinations where the situation ameliorates. By that, it points to low infection rates and high vaccination rates.
In contrast, border and quarantine measures will remain in place if infection rates in many countries continue to be high.
Also read: Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) in Singapore: How Are Travel and Leisure Activities Affected?
Resumption of leisure travel
Image credit: Shashivarman Kolandaveloo
Singapore has been taking steps to resume leisure travel. This is evident from the quarantine-free travel between Hong Kong and Singapore that was officially in the cards. A travel bubble between the countries was also set to launch on 26 May 2021, but has been postponed indefinitely due to a recent spike in COVID-19 community cases in the Little Red Dot.
Resumption of travel without as many restrictions
During the virtual press conference, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said Singapore is striving for the resumption of travel without as many restrictions. For instance, allowing people to cross the borders for work or family and returning to Singapore without the need to serve a stay-home notice for a stipulated period.
“We hope to resume that normalcy, but I think the truth is we don’t have enough data to decide whether lifting all those restrictions is possible as of now,” he added.
“But certainly we are heading in the right direction if we can get ourselves substantially vaccinated, protected.”
