Singapore adds 6 countries to its VTL scheme, raises traveller quota to 15,000

Singapore

SINGAPORE is launching Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTLs) with Thailand from Dec 14 and with Cambodia, Fiji, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Turkey from Dec 16, said the Ministry of Health on Friday (Nov 26).

Applications by short-term visitors and long-term pass holders for a Vaccinated Travel Pass (VTP) to enter under the

quarantine-free travel scheme will commence on Dec 7 for those travelling from Thailand and Dec 9 for the other countries for which the VTL starts from Dec 16.

This brings the total number of countries with which Singapore has VTL arrangements to 27. These countries collectively contributed to about 60 per cent of the total daily arrivals at Changi Airport pre-pandemic.

With 6 countries added to the VTL scheme, the daily traveller quota will be increased to 15,000 from 10,000, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said in a statement.

Returning Singapore citizens and permanent residents who are fully vaccinated will not need to apply for a VTP when entering under the VTL scheme.

The expansion of the scheme to the

6 countries will continue to restore 2-way quarantine-free travel between Singapore and VTL countries whose borders are now open to visitors from the Republic, said CAAS.

Transport Minister S Iswaran said the travel scheme is designed with multiple safeguards that enable the government to calibrate the risk in a timely manner, in accordance with the assessment of the VTL countries.

He added that there are many levers, including controlling the VTL quota, to manage risk. Also, travellers need to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus and undergo pre- and on-arrival tests.

He made the remarks at a media doorstop on Friday as Singapore announced the extension of the VTL scheme.

It was also announced that Austria, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Liechtenstein and Slovakia would be downgraded to Category 3 of the country/region classification by the Ministry of Health. Travellers from these countries, where the pandemic has worsened, will have to serve a 10-day stay-home notice from Dec 1.

Short-term visitors and long-term pass-holders who had travelled to Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe within the last 14 days will not be allowed entry into Singapore.

Returning Singapore citizens and permanent residents will be required to serve a 10-day stay-home notice at dedicated facilities.This comes after reports of a potentially more contagious variant of the coronavirus circulating in these countries.

Iswaran reiterated that Singapore closely monitors the global public health situation, especially for the emergence of any new variants of concern, and imposes additional safeguards as necessary.

He added that despite the low number of arrivals from these African countries, such a tightening is an important cautionary measure. Also, the countries with which Singapore has VTL arrangement would be monitoring the situation in Singapore. He said it is "part of our larger strategy and approach to reopening of our borders".

On the number of visitors allowed for VTL (Land) between Singapore and Malaysia that will launch on Nov 29, Iswaran said that the first steps are"not so much about how big or how wide the scale is, but more of building confidence".

He added that there is scope to scale up, including appointing transport operators to provide designated bus services.

Over 37,000 VTL travellers have entered Singapore as at Nov 25. This comprises 20,510 VTP holders who are short-term visitors or long-term pass holders, and 14,788 Singapore citizens and permanent residents; with the remaining 1,703 being children aged 12 and below.

Separately, Argentina, Kuwait, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Romania and Thailand will be placed in Category 2 while Belize, Costa Rica, Kazakhstan, Mauritius, Panama, Peru and Uruguay will be in Category 3 from Dec 1, 11.59 pm. The various categories serve to apply differentiated border measures to travellers.