Singapore: Authorities to ease COVID-19 restrictions from April 5 /update 36

Event

Authorities plan to ease some restrictions from April 5 due to lower COVID-19 activity in the country. Officials will allow up to 75 percent of staff to be present at the workplace at a given time. The government continues to encourage companies to stagger and allow flexible working hours, though split teams arrangement will no longer be mandatory. Other curbs, such as spacing work stations one meter apart from each other, remain in place. Essential services, including medical and food retailers, can operate on-site with full staff capacity. Additionally, a maximum of 750 attendees can attend business events, with safeguards like dividing the participants to zone of at most 50 people each, from April 24. Authorities will allow up to 750 people in sports events with controls like pre-event testing. Officials will also increase the cap for marriage solemnizations and wedding receptions to 250 people with protocols like pre-event testing from April 24. Most social gatherings will remain limited to eight people.

The government maintains its Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) at Orange, the second-highest level, indicating some human-to-human transmission in the country. Authorities continue to require people to practice health protocols, including wearing facemasks in public. Foreign workers staying in dormitories must download the TraceTogether application and FWMOMCare health monitoring application.

The Johor Causeway, which links Singapore to Malaysia, is open 07:00-19:00 daily. State carrier Singapore Airlines (SQ) and its subsidiaries, Scoot (TR) and SilkAir (MI), continue to suspend most flights but plan to resume operations to several locations gradually. Singapore-based airline JetStar Asia Airways (3K) has resumed some routes. Foreigners flying from select cities with several airlines, including SQ, TR, and MI, can transit via Singapore Changi Airport (SIN).

Travel Restrictions
Most short-term visa holders, including work pass holders who do not provide essential services, remain banned from entering Singapore. Long-term visit pass and student pass holders must apply for official approval before traveling. Passengers must submit online health declarations up to three days before arrival. Foreign nationals traveling from most locations must test negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours before the trip. All passengers must undergo polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests upon arrival in Singapore. People applying to enter Singapore under the ATP and Reciprocal Green Lanes (RGL) schemes must have a minimum of SGD 30,000 (USD 22,241) travel insurance for medical treatment costs should they test positive for COVID-19 in Singapore.

Arrivals from most locations must undergo a stay-home notice (SHN) for 14 days at designated facilities. Travelers who spent the previous two weeks in mainland China, Macau, and Taiwan can serve a seven-day SHN in their residence. Arrivals from Fiji, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, and Thailand can serve a two-week SHN at their residence if they fulfill some requirements, including having spent the previous 14 days in the aforementioned locations and serving SHN at the accommodation alone or with other travelers with the same travel history. Long-term pass holders and short-term travelers who have been in South Africa and the UK within the previous 14 days cannot enter Singapore. Singaporean citizens and permanent residents (PRs) with recent travel history in the UK quarantine for two weeks at dedicated SHN facilities and subsequently self-quarantine for a week at their residence. Arrivals from Australia's New South Wales (NSW) are exempted from SHN if their on-arrival PCR test returns negative.

Singaporeans, PRs, and long-term pass holders with travel history to Vietnam within the last two weeks must serve 14 days of SHN at a dedicated facility and undergo another PCR test at the end of the SHN period. Returning long-term pass holders must take a PCR test within 72 hours before departure on top of other rules. Arrivals may opt to serve SHN at their residence if they fulfill some conditions, such as occupying the place alone or with household members serving SHN with the same travel history. Short-term travelers with recent travel history to Vietnam are banned from entering Singapore.

RGL schemes with Germany, Malaysia, and South Korea are suspended through April 30, while similar programs with Indonesia and Japan are suspended until further notice. The schemes allow people to travel to and from Singapore for business and official reasons. People who have obtained approval to travel to Singapore under the programs can continue to do so. Similar schemes are currently in place for travel with Brunei, as well as Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang provinces and Chongqing, Shanghai, and Tianjin municipalities in mainland China. Travelers entering Singapore under the programs must have a sponsoring Singaporean entity, seek prior approval from Singaporean authorities, and test negative for COVID-19 48-72 hours before departure. Travelers must test for COVID-19 upon arrival, remain at their accommodation until the test returns negative, and adhere to controlled itineraries for the first 14 days of the visit.

Authorities currently allow entry for all travelers from Australia, Brunei, mainland China, New Zealand, and Taiwan. The passengers must have remained in the mentioned locations for the last 14 days, apply for an Air Travel Pass (ATP) before entry, and self-isolate until on-arrival test results are ready. Travelers who test negative are exempt from SHN requirements.

Travelers under the Business Travel Pass (BTP) scheme must undergo PCR tests on the third, seventh, and fourteenth day of their return to Singapore, as well as a serology test on the third day. The program allows Singapore-based senior business executives to travel overseas regularly for work purposes and be exempt from SHN requirements upon returning to Singapore.

Authorities are accepting applications from business travelers from all locations for meetings in Singapore for up to two weeks. The travelers must test negative for COVID-19 both before and upon arriving in Singapore; remain in designated facilities during their entire trips; and undergo further COVID-19 tests on days three, five, seven, and 11 of their stay in Singapore.

Advice

Consider postponing travel if affected by travel restrictions. Confirm flight status before checking out of accommodation and departing for the airport. Follow all official instructions. Abide by national health and safety measures. Reconfirm all travel arrangements. Consider delaying traveling if experiencing symptoms associated with COVID-19, as they may prompt increased scrutiny and delays. Liaise with trusted contacts for further updates and guidance. Maintain contact with your diplomatic representation. Ensure contingency plans account for further disruptive measures or extensions of current restrictions. Reconsider and reconfirm nonemergency health appointments.

Resources

Ministry of Health Singapore
TraceTogether Mobile Application
Immigration and Checkpoints Authority
Safe Travel Portal