Singapore on Friday loosened entry requirements for certain countries and regions and soon will introduce an option for quarantine-free entry for vaccinated visitors from Germany and Brunei, the Singapore Ministry of Health announced.
Currently, Singapore ranks countries and regions in four tiers that determine for how long and where visitors must quarantine. Travelers from Category I countries—currently including most of Mainland China, Taiwan and New Zealand—do not have to quarantine if they test negative for Covid-19 upon arrival. As of the end of Friday, that also will include Hong Kong and Macao.
Hong Kong and Singapore, however, also announced on Friday they were scrapping plans for a quarantine-free air travel bubble between the two regions. A statement from the Hong Kong government said Singapore's new direction to be a "Covid-resilient nation," rather than zero-Covid, would make it unlikely that unlinked local cases would remain below required levels.
The government's announcement said Hong Kong and Singapore "remained committed to facilitating connectivity between the two places and would continue to maintain dialogue and share experiences in this respect."
Travelers from Singapore's Category II countries are required to quarantine for seven days at the place of their choice. It had included only China's Jiangsu province, but Singapore also has added Germany, Canada, Australia and Brunei to the tier as of the end of Friday.
For Germany and Brunei, Singapore is piloting a new "Vaccinated Travel Lane" in which fully vaccinated travelers can skip quarantine if they meet testing requirements. Those travelers will be tested for Covid-19 within 48 hours of departure to Singapore, upon arrival and then on both the third and seventh days of their visit, if it lasts that long.
Singapore is limiting those visitors to designated flights, and they will need to apply for the pass within seven to 30 days of their arrival. The application process will open on Sept. 1 for entry on Sept. 8. Citizens and residents of Singapore automatically qualify and do not need to apply, according to the Ministry of Health.
The new program "is both a welcome and significant development," Star Alliance CEO Jeffrey Goh said in a statement. "Each step, each pilot program, each effort to reduce the many disparate border measures presently in effect in many jurisdictions will be another proof point that a return to a globally-connected world of responsible travel and tourism is in our sights."
Travelers from Singapore's Category III countries are required to quarantine for 14 days at dedicated facilities if unvaccinated or at the accommodation of their choice if fully vaccinated. As of the end of Friday Singapore added Belgium, Denmark, Japan and Luxembourg to this designation, which already included Austria, Italy, Norway, South Korea and Switzerland.
Most of the rest of the world is still included in Singapore's Category IV, which requires all travelers to quarantine in dedicated facilities for 14 days. Singapore bans entry altogether from Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.