Singapore ready to step up border health measures if needed: Ministry

People take a selfie on Fort Siloso skywalk on Sentosa island in Singapore on December 16, 2022. (Photo: AFP)

The Singaporean Ministry of Health said on December 30 that the city-state is ready to step up border health measures if needed and that it is closely watching the global COVID-19 situation.

The ministry noted that there has been some public concerns about the high level of infections in China and its latest announcement to relax their border measures on January 8 next year.

As air travel with China is progressively restored, Singapore will take a cautious approach towards increasing seat capacity, taking into account the overall public health assessment, it said.

Singapore’s Changi airport sees between 700-1,000 arrivals from China daily, or about 1%-1.5% of the total by air a day, mostly comprising of residents or long-term pass holders. About 40 to 80 of the arrivals are detected to be positive with COVID-19 on a weekly basis, it said.

Singapore has been working with international partners to monitor new variants circulating globally, the ministry said.

Singapore still requires travelers who aren’t fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to take pre-departure tests, and for short-term visitors who haven’t completed the regime to have sufficient travel insurance./.
VNA