No more tests for vaccinated travellers to Singapore from Apr 26

Megan Cheah
Published Fri, Apr 22, 2022 · 06:27 PM

FULLY vaccinated travellers arriving via air or sea checkpoints will no longer need to take a pre-departure test before departing to Singapore, from 12.01 am on Apr 26, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Friday (Apr 22).

This means such travellers will not need any Covid-19 tests when entering Singapore by air, sea or land. But entry requirements for non-fully vaccinated travellers remain unchanged, MOH noted in a press release.

In addition, from May 1, fully vaccinated non-Malaysian work permit holders no longer need to apply for entry approvals to enter Singapore.

Non-Malaysian work permit holders holding an in-principle approval (IPA) in the construction, marine shipyard and process (CMP) sectors will no longer need to apply for entry approvals, but will instead have to book an appointment to undergo onboarding upon arrival.

This will be through a new one-stop Onboard Centre booking system, said the Ministry of Manpower, Economic Development Board and Building and Construction Authority in a separate press release.

Employers of all non-Malaysian work permit holders in the CMP sectors holding IPAs must use the new system to secure onboarding slots before their work permit holders arrive in Singapore. From May 1, this requirement will be extended to work permit holders from China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan as well.

From May 1, public transport operators will resume the operation of cross-border bus services, and cross-border taxi operations will also resume.

Routes that will reinstate cross-border travel include services 160, 170 and 170X operated by SBS Transit, service 950 operated by SMRT Buses, and services TS1, TS3, TS6 and TS8 operated by Transtar Travel. Cross-border public bus services had been suspended since March 2020.

In a separate press release, the Land Transport Authority noted that it is also working closely with its Malaysia counterpart to resume cross-border taxi services.

This comes after Singapore and Malaysia had reopened their land border to all fully vaccinated travellers from Apr 1, without the need for testing or quarantine if they were crossing via private vehicles or through the designated vaccinated travel bus services.

"When we resumed travel by private transport across the Singapore and Malaysia land borders at the beginning of this month, we had said that we would progressively allow more transport modes," said multi-ministry taskforce co-chair and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong during Friday's press conference.

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