Debated in Parliament on 5 Apr 2021.
Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Health what principles or criteria are used to decide whether (i) returning Singaporeans from certain countries can be exempt from Stay-Home Notice (SHN) requirements and (ii) certain countries are to become exempt from SHN requirements for returning Singaporeans from those countries.
The Multi-Ministry Taskforce takes a risk-based approach to our border controls, based on the assessed risk of importation and onward transmission in the community. The aim is to re-open our borders safely and facilitate travel while minimising the impact on public health. Different countries and regions have different incidence rates of COVID-19 cases, varying testing capacities and policies, and varying measures to control community spread of COVID-19. These factors affect the risk of importation. All travellers and returning Singaporeans are required to take a COVID-19 test upon arrival. Generally, travellers and returning Singaporeans from higher-risk countries and regions are subject to more stringent measures, including a 14-day Stay-Home-Notice (SHN) at dedicated SHN facilities, with a COVID-19 test administered on arrival and before their exit from SHN. These measures allow us to minimise the risk of the virus spreading to the community from imported cases.
Travellers and returning Singaporeans from lower risk countries and regions may have to serve a 7-day SHN at their place of residence with a COVID-19 test administered at the end of their SHN. As these countries have lower incidences of COVID-19 and measures in place to detect and keep community spread at bay, travellers returning from these regions are assessed to have lower risks of spreading COVID-19 to Singapore.
Singapore's border measures are not static and will evolve as the global situation changes. If the situation in a country or region deteriorates, more stringent measures will be put in place to limit the risks of importation and community transmission from imported cases. Similarly, if the situation in a country/region improves, we will consider relaxing our border health measures to facilitate travel. We encourage everyone to check the SafeTravel website (https://safetravel.ica.gov.sg) regularly for the latest updates.
PAPERCUTS