Singapore to require COVID-19 tests to travellers from high-risk countries

Travellers will be required to serve a 14-day stay-home notice.

All inbound foreign travellers, except those from lower-risk countries and regions, will need to secure a negative COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test within 72 hours before their departure starting 18 November, the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced.

Upon arrival, travellers will also be required to serve their 14-day stay-home notice (SHN), after which they must be tested again.

The announcement excludes Singapore citizens and permanent residents. Such protocols are part of Singapore’s measures to reduce importation risk as it reopen its borders.

The COVID-19 PCR test was previously required only from those with recent travel history in India, Indonesia, and the Philippines amidst rising COVID-19 cases in these countries.

Travellers coming from low-risk countries as per the country’s assessment are exempted from the mandatory PCR test. However, they will still be required to serve a seven-day SHN with a PCR test at the end of their SHN, or a PCR test upon arrival in lieu of the SHN.

MOH said Singapore’s border measures will evolve amidst the change in global situation.