Singapore plans to simplify Covid-19 restrictions that have built up in the city-state since the start of the pandemic and intends to further ease entry rules for vaccinated travelers, with the worst of the current omicron wave seen to be over.
The island, which boasts a 95% vaccination rate among the eligible population, will look to pay more attention to hospitalizations rather than daily cases to guide its strategy, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said at a briefing Friday. Further easing of measures will only take place “when conditions are right and the healthcare workload has eased, which we expect in the coming weeks,” the health ministry said in a statement.
The financial hub is proceeding with its plans to treat the virus as endemic -- after moving away from a strict Covid Zero strategy some months ago -- while ensuring its healthcare system isn’t overwhelmed. A wave of omicron infections, which saw daily cases top 10,000 in the past month and hit a record of about 26,000 on Feb. 22, led to delays in the implementation of some easing measures.
Authorities will adjust rules from March 15, the health ministry said in the statement. This “is not an easing of measures, but a streamlining of the many rules that have accumulated over two years, which made the rules difficult to understand,” it said.
Other measures:
The maximum number of unique visitors per household will be adjusted from five persons per day, to five persons at any one time.
Unvaccinated children aged 12 years and below will be allowed to enter Vaccination-Differentiated settings such as restaurants or cafes with similarly-aged children from other households.
Safe distancing will no longer be required in settings where people are wearing masks. Where safe distancing is needed, it will be 1 meter for all settings.
Specific size limits will be lifted for events like religious services and business events, with a 50% capacity limit on larger settings with over 1000 people.
Team sports with up to 30 people will be allowed in specific settings as long as all the participants are fully vaccinated.
After they land, travelers entering under the quarantine-free travel scheme will have to carry out and report the result of an Antigen Rapid Test themselves, without the need for supervision.
Subsequent relaxations of virus curbs will be done in different stages, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said at the briefing. For example, the capacity limits to return to workplaces may be raised from the current cap of 50% before it reaches the maximum.
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“So, there will be a few steps and exactly when along the way do we ease on alcohol consumption rule, live performance, singing and nightlife activities, that’s something we are studying very carefully and as I said when we are ready, we will provide further details,” he said.
Making Travel Simpler
Singapore has slowly eased measures at the border to revive its status as an aviation hub. The island nation has so far focused on opening so-called Vaccinated Travel Lanes to allow quarantine-free travel from 32 countries and regions, but it wants to transition toward allowing vaccinated travelers to enter from any country without the need to apply for approval. This could happen “in the coming weeks,” the government said.
There will still be some limitations to the plan involving countries which are hard hit by Covid-19 waves “but otherwise, for rest of the world, allowing travel as long as they’re vaccinated,” Wong said.
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The country is eyeing restoring passenger volumes to at least 50% of pre-Covid levels this year. While relaxing the entry requirements is necessary to meet the goal, how airport capacity is ramped up will be key because of attrition during the pandemic, Transport Minister S. Iswaran said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.
Singapore passenger volumes reached about 15% at the end of 2021. The city’s Changi Airport said it handled 3.05 million passengers last year, with December alone accounting for 27% of traffic.
Photo: Albert Chua of The Edge Singapore
