Starting October 19, fully vaccinated travelers from the United Kingdom or the United States will have the right to enter Singapore quarantine-free. This is the biggest city-states move to reopen its borders to international travel since the outbreak of the pandemic.
Quarantine travel lanes with Canada, Denmark France, Italy and Spain will also be opened along with the UK, USA and Canada. Starting November 15, South Korean travelers will be able travel to Singapore unassisted.
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This announcement came shortly after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong informed Singaporeans that a zero COVID strategy was not possible and that people should learn how to live with the virus, now that most of the population has been vaccinated.
Singapore has opened its two first vaccinated travel lanes, or VTLs, with Germany and Brunei as part of an experiment to prove that quarantine-free travel is possible with COVID-19-endemic countries.
More than 3,100 people from Germany and Brunei entered Singapore since the start of the experiment. Only two of them tested positive for COVID-19, and they were both detected at the airport upon arrival.
Based on initial results, Minister for Transport S Iswaran stated that he would make travelling to Singapore via the VTLs much easier by reducing the number of PCR test required from four to two.
Travellers must follow these steps to take advantage of VTL
You must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. A digital certificate proving your vaccination is acceptable.
Two PCR tests should be taken. The first one should be done at least 48 hours before you leave and the second one upon your arrival.
Before you depart, submit an application for travel under the VTL program. Open for applications from October 12 to a wider range of countries
Travellers who have been vaccinated in one of the VTL countries will be accepted. They can travel freely between VTL countries for 14 days before travelling to Singapore.
Travellers from Canada or the United States will not accept paper certificates of vaccination. Only digital certificates in Smart Health Card format issued by the CommonTrust Network and accepted will be electronic certificates.
Only VTL-designated travellers will be permitted to enter Singapore via the scheme at the moment. This will limit the number of daily arrivals from each country to a maximum of 3,000.
We will monitor the incidence rate and observe the demand before we decide on any additional increases in capacity.
These countries together accounted for approximately 10% of our pre COVID annual passenger arrivals to Changi Airport, said the minister.
They are among the top 20 trading partners. They are well-known for their significant investments and strong business presence. It is important to reconnect with them as soon as possible.
I swaran stated that Singapore is already in discussions with other countries to open up more reciprocal travel routes.
