Singapore to tighten border measures for travellers from India

SINGAPORE will tighten border measures for travellers from India by reducing entry approvals for non-Singapore Citizens/ Permanent Residents, and subjecting all travellers arriving from India to an additional seven-day Stay Home Notice (SHN) at their place of residence, following their 14-day SHN at dedicated SHN facilities from 11.59pm on April 22.

This will also apply to all travellers with a travel history to India in the last 14 days.

Meanwhile, travellers from Hong Kong will only have to serve seven-day SHN at their place of residence. This applies to travellers who have remained in Hong Kong in the last 14 consecutive days and who enter Singapore from 11.59 pm on April 22, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in a statement on Tuesday.

"The Multi-Ministry Taskforce regularly reviews Singapore's border measures to manage the risk of importation from travellers and onward local transmission, taking into account the current situation in their source countries/regions," said MOH.

It also provided an update for critical and essential official travel.

"To facilitate critical and essential official travel in a safe manner, we will allow fully-vaccinated individuals who travel to higher-risk countries/ regions as part of an official delegation to be subjected to a stringent testing and self-isolation," it said. This kicks in according to the same deadline as all the other border measures.

They must adhere to a strict event-by-event controlled itinerary while overseas and undergo Covid-19 PCR tests on-arrival and on Day 3, Day 7, and Day 14 of their return.

As an added precaution, these travellers will be required to undergo a seven-day self-isolation period at home (or in a hotel) upon return. They may leave their place of accommodation only to commute to the PCR test site or to the workplace for essential work that cannot be done remotely.

Travellers who are not fully-vaccinated will be subjected to prevailing border measures upon their return.

Finally, MOH said that all Long-Term Pass holders and short-term visitors with recent travel history to the United Kingdom and South Africa will be allowed entry to Singapore, noting that the country's existing border control and domestic measures have been able to contain the risks of community spread from imported cases with such variants.

Singapore had earlier restricted entry and transit for Long-Term Pass holders and short-term visitors with recent travel history to the UK and South Africa, due to concerns of a more contagious variant of the Covid-19 virus circulating in these countries/regions.