Unvaccinated travelers will be able to enter the city-state without showing proof of a negative PCR test result.
Singapore’s Marina Bay at dusk. (Photo: leungchopan/iStock)
The Singaporean Ministry of Health has just announced the final steps in the country’s transition out of the pandemic. Citing the stable Covid-19 situation over recent months and a high level of hybrid immunity in the local population, officials will scrap the few remaining coronavirus measures from Monday, February 13.
Testing requirement for overseas arrivals who have not been fully vaccinated will be removed, though travelers must still complete a health declaration when entering by air, land, and sea using the SG Arrival Card e-service. This also applies to Singapore residents flying back or returning on a ferry or cruise ship. Coronavirus travel insurance is no longer necessary for short-term visitors.
Covid-related mask mandates on public transport and in indoor healthcare settings will also be dropped entirely. However, mask-wearing will be retained by the health ministry as a rule for visitors, staff, and patients in areas of hospitals and residential care homes “where there is interaction with patients and in indoor patient-facing areas.” Clinics and pharmacies, too, will be subject to the regulation to “better protect patients and healthcare workers from infectious diseases in general.”
Members of the public, especially the elderly and immunocompromised, are encouraged to keep their masks on in crowded places, and anyone with symptoms of respiratory infections will be advised to don a facial covering when leaving their homes.
The city-state’s Covid-19 multi-ministry task force, created in January 2020, will be stood down; authorities are formally ending the use of the TraceTogether app and the SafeEntry check-in system. Singapore will also downgrade Covid-19 from its current Yellow status to Green, the lowest level in the health ministry’s four-tier Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON).
