SINGAPORE: Singapore announced the launch of vaccinated travel lanes (VTLs) with Hong Kong and other regions on Wednesday (Feb 16).
VTL quotas will also be restored and progressively increased, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Wednesday. Authorities also said it is revising its categories of countries and regions, as part of a streamlining of border measures.
MOH said a new VTL with Hong Kong, as well as previously deferred VTLs with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), will be launched.
Vaccinated Travel Pass (VTP) applications for travel from these four countries and regions will open at 10 am on Feb 22. The first VTL flights from these places will take place from Feb 25.
“We will progressively launch VTLs with more destinations as we move towards facilitating fully vaccinated travel,” said MOH in its press release.
Bi-directional quarantine-free sea travel between Singapore and Indonesia will also resume with the launch of VTL (Sea) from Bintan and Batam.
“The VTL (Sea) will benefit users of Indonesia’s travel bubble to specific resorts in Bintan and Batam and facilitate short-term leisure travel,” MOH said.
Applications will open at 10 am on Feb 22 and the first ferry trip will take place on Feb 25.
The quotas for VTL flights will be fully restored with immediate effect, while the quota for land VTLs between Singapore and Malaysia will be fully restored from Feb 22. Sales for additional bus tickets will start on Feb 16.
These quotas will also be progressively increased, said MOH.
Singapore reduced VTL quotas and ticket sales for travel from Jan 20 when the country tightened its borders amid a rising number of Omicron cases overseas.
“We will continue to monitor the global COVID-19 situation and adjust our border measures in tandem with our roadmap to becoming a COVID-resilient nation,” MOH said.
A streamlining of border measures was also announced.
Currently, countries and regions are classified into four categories based on their COVID-19 situation and risk profile, with differentiated border measures for each category.
Under the latest update, the current categories II, III, and IV will be combined into a single “General Travel” category.
Quarantine-free border measures will continue to apply to fully vaccinated travellers arriving via VTL arrangements.
All travellers from countries and regions classified under Category I, such as Macao, Mainland China and Taiwan which have “very low infection rates”, will also continue to enjoy quarantine-free travel.
A new “Restricted” category will be created. This will apply to countries and regions with “developing COVID-19 situations that warrant stricter border measures” imposed on arrival. There are no countries under this new category at the moment.
In tandem, border measures for travellers arriving from 11.59 pm on Feb 21 will be simplified. The new rules are:
A reduction in travel history requirement from 14 to seven days
Stay-home notice duration will be standardised to 7 days across all country and region categories in view of a shorter incubation period of the Omicron variant
Enhanced testing regime for travellers arriving on VTLs will be ceased
VTL and Category I travellers will no longer need to perform an on-arrival polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. Instead, they will have up to 24 hours from their entry into Singapore to take a supervised self-swab antigen rapid test (ART) at a testing centre
Vaccinated long-term pass holders, except work permit holders, will no longer have to obtain a VTP or an entry approval to enter Singapore. They will still need to adhere to border health measures on entry
MOH said Singapore’s border measures to date have been aimed at controlling the number of imported cases.
“As Singapore’s incidence rate is now comparable with most overseas destinations, imported cases are unlikely to affect the trajectory of local cases,” it added.
“Our focus has thus shifted to facilitating inflows from travellers who are less likely to become severely ill and burden our healthcare capacity while they are in Singapore.
“As vaccination offers good protection against severe disease, we will continue to work towards allowing stay-home-notice free travel for all fully vaccinated travellers.”
