Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Singapore set to lift coronavirus travel curbs in ‘major milestone’

Singapore set to lift coronavirus travel curbs in ‘major milestone’

Content image - Phnom Penh Post
People walk past the Merlion statue in Singapore on Thursday. AFP

Singapore set to lift coronavirus travel curbs in ‘major milestone’

Singapore will lift restrictions for all vaccinated travellers from next week, with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on March 24 hailing it as a “major milestone” in the aviation hub’s efforts to live with Covid-19.

The city-state is the latest Asian country to ease travel restrictions in a region that has generally been more reluctant to lift barriers than Europe and North America.

A gateway for many travellers arriving in the Asia-Pacific, Singapore had already started quarantine-free travel schemes with some countries in recent months.

From April 1, fully vaccinated adults and unvaccinated children will be allowed to enter the country without quarantining, as long as they take a pre-departure test, officials said.

Lee said Singapore had reached a “major milestone” in its efforts to live with the virus.

Easing travel curbs will “reconnect Singapore with the world,” he said in a televised address.

“It will give a much-needed boost to businesses, particularly the tourism sector, and it will help Singapore reclaim its position as a business and aviation hub.”

Only travellers on a “restricted list” will face curbs in entering Singapore, although there are currently no countries on the list.

A raft of other coronavirus measures were also eased, with people in Singapore no longer required to wear masks outside, and limits on group sizes raised to 10, up from five previously.

At the start of the pandemic, the country of 5.5 million kept Covid-19 cases low through border closures and a tough lockdown.

It has faced sizeable outbreaks since last year and, with some of the world’s highest vaccination rates, authorities have shifted to a policy of living with the virus.

The pandemic plunged Singapore into its worst-ever recession in 2020 as the trading hub closed its borders.

International visitor arrivals dropped to just 2.7 million that year from more than 19 million in 2019.

Singapore’s approach stands in contrast to rival financial hub Hong Kong, where arrivals are still required to undergo lengthy quarantines in hotels.

Following Singapore’s announcement, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam was forced to defend her administration’s approach, insisting the Chinese city remained an “attractive” financial centre.

“The policies and measures to be adopted by each government in combating Covid differ,” she said.

Like mainland China, Hong Kong has stuck to a zero-Covid policy, but the approach has led to an exodus of foreign and local residents, and failed to stop a fierce Omicron outbreak in recent months.

Other countries in the Asia-Pacific that have recently announced an easing of travel restrictions include Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Malaysia.

MOST VIEWED

  • Wing Bank opens new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004

    Wing Bank celebrates first anniversary as commercial bank with launch of brand-new branch. One year since officially launching with a commercial banking licence, Wing Bank on March 14 launched a new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004. The launch was presided over by

  • Siem Reap airport to close after new one opens

    After the new Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport (SAI) opens in October, the existing complex serving the northwestern province will be “completely closed”, according to State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA) spokesman Sin Chansereyvutha. SAI developer Angkor International Airport Investment (Cambodia) Co Ltd (AIAI) last month

  • Girl from Stung Meanchey dump now college grad living in Australia

    After finishing her foundational studies at Trinity College and earning a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Melbourne in 2022, Ron Sophy, a girl who once lived at the Stung Meanchey garbage dump and scavenged for things to sell, is now working at a private

  • Rare plant fetches high prices from Thai, Chinese

    Many types of plants found in Cambodia are used as traditional herbs to treat various diseases, such as giloy or guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia) or aromatic/sand ginger (Kaempferia galangal) or rough cocklebur (Xanthium Strumartium). There is also a plant called coral, which is rarely grown

  • Ministry using ChatGPT AI to ‘ease workload’; Khmer version planned

    The Digital Government Committee is planning to make a Khmer language version of popular artificial intelligence (AI) technology ChatGPT available to the public in the near future, following extensive testing. On March 9, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications revealed that it has been using the

  • Cambodia returns 15M Covid jabs to China

    Prime Minister Hun Sen said Cambodia will return 15 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to China for donation to other countries. The vaccines in question were ordered but had not yet arrived in Cambodia. While presiding over the Ministry of Health’s annual meeting held on