The country's COVID-19 taskforce said closing its Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTLs) would not stop the spread of Omicron.
Closing Singapore to visitors from countries with high numbers of Covid-19 cases would affect the republic's reputation and connectivity with the rest of the world, and rules have already been tightened to contain the Omicron variant, the country's multi-ministry taskforce on Covid-19 said at a press briefing on Wednesday.
«(Even if) we close all the VTLs, there will still be non-VTL connections between Singapore and other countries and Omicron will still be able to enter Singapore unless we impose a total lockdown and close our borders entirely,» Ong Ye Kung, taskforce co-chair said about whether it was looking to review border and VTL measures, «The Business Times» reported on Wednesday.
Omicron Wave
At the same time, the taskforce warned of an upcoming «Omicron wave» and said that it does not intend to relax further social restrictions currently, but «will try not to have to tighten» them until at least the Chinese New Year in February. Current gathering limits permit groups of five.
Compliance with safe management measures will give Singapore a «much higher chance of getting through this upcoming wave without having to tighten further,» Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said at a press briefing, «The Business Times» reported.
VTL Freeze
The country stopped new ticket sales for VTL flights and buses from December 23 to January 20 amid Omicron concerns, and said it would cap VTL quotas and ticket sales for travel after January 20 at 50 percent.
Last week, it said that on-arrival tests for non-VTL travellers, who are all required to serve a 7 or 10 day Stay Home Notice (SHN) either at their place of residence or at a dedicated facility, are no longer required. From 8 January, all non-VTL travellers entering Singapore will also no longer be required to undergo a COVID-19 PCR test on arrival.
Booster Dose Required
The Ministry of Health on Wednesday said that from 14 February 2022 onwards, persons aged 18 years and above who have completed the primary vaccination series of COVID-19 vaccines and are eligible for booster vaccination will only be considered as fully vaccinated for 270 days after the last dose in their primary vaccination series.
Over the past week, there have been 1,281 confirmed Omicron cases in the city-state, making up around 18 percent of local cases. They comprise 1,048 imported cases and 233 local cases, according to the Health Ministry's data.
