Singapore has announced it will stop the sale of travel tickets on arriving buses and flights as part of its quarantine-free travel program. The move was made in response to Omicron COVID-19, which is rapidly spreading.
Singapore’s vaccinated travel lanes program allows fully-vaccinated travelers to enter the country without quarantine. They can fly on designated buses and flights from more than two dozen countries, including Australia, India and Malaysia.
The government stated Wednesday that no tickets will be issued to anyone who wants to travel from these countries between Thursday and January 20.
The Health Ministry stated that the border measures would allow them to spend time studying and understanding the Omicron variant and strengthening our defenses. This includes enhancing our healthcare capacities and getting more people vaccinated.
Singapore has decided to freeze ticket sales for arrival flights and buses in its quarantine-free travel program. This will be effective for four weeks.
Singapore set up an agreement with Australia to create a quarantine-free zone. However, the deal was cancelled by the Singapore government just one month before Christmas.
It was also stated that the VTL quotas would be reduced and that ticket sales will decrease for travel starting January 20.
Travellers who have VTL tickets and meet the other criteria can continue to travel if they are still holding them.
It was also recommended that people who arrive in Singapore avoid socializing, avoid big gatherings, and eat out seven days a week even though their health tests are failing.
Singapore has confirmed 65 Omicron imported cases and a few other local cases.
Since its debut about one month ago in several countries, Omicron quickly became the most dominant Covid-19 strain. It accounts for over 70% of all cases in the US.
This variant was found in Singapore. Singapore has opened its borders to selected countries starting October. It abandoned the Covid-zero strategy that had been pursued by China and Hong Kong.
Singapore has been the latest in South-East Asia to stop reopening after Thailand stopped its quarantine-free entry program.
Medical experts in Australia are pressing for mandatory mask-wearing, density limits and mandatory densities to be reinstated. New Zealand, however, has delayed the phased opening of its borders until February because of the threat of the omicron variant.
The Government is looking at further “study” of the Omicron variant to reopen the Omicron to the rest of the world.
Singapore now advises people who are returning from abroad to stay away from high-risk activities like eating out at restaurants and exercising in the gym for 7 days. This is even after they have tested negative every day.
Before the negative test, returning patients were permitted to freely move once their results had been confirmed.
The Ministry of Health has reported that Singapore’s number of local cases dropped from an average of over 4600 by late October to only 221 in December. However, the number of imported cases is on the rise to over 50 per day, most likely due to omicron.
According to the city’s health ministry, it detected three local clusters at a gym that were linked to three cases earlier in this week. Although the latest ministry release indicated that there had been 280 additional cases, 54 of which were imported, they didn’t offer any information on how many.