Yahoo Finance COVID-19: SHN rules tightened for travellers entering Singapore with recent travel history to S Korea
SINGAPORE — The multi-ministry taskforce (MTF) on COVID-19 has tightened the Stay-Home Notice (SHN) rules for travellers entering Singapore with recent travel history to South Korea.
From Saturday (26 December), 2359 hours, travellers with travel history, including transit, to South Korea in the past 14 days will have to serve a 14-day SHN at dedicated SHN facilities upon arrival in Singapore, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a statement on Thursday.
The 14-day SHN at dedicated SHN facilities also applies to returning Singapore-based travellers under the Singapore-ROK Reciprocal Green Lane.
The move was due to the “increased risk of community spread recently”, the MOH said.
Previously, the MOH announced that travellers from South Korea are allowed to serve their 14-day SHN at a suitable place of residence.
Travellers from Hong Kong, Fiji, Sri Lanka and Thailand can still apply to opt out of dedicated SHN facilities and serve their 14-day SHN at their place of residence, if they fulfil the following criteria:
a. Travelled to no other country/region than above-mentioned countries/regions, in the last consecutive 14 days prior to entry; and
b. Are occupying their place of residence (i.e. residential address) alone, or only with household members who are also persons serving SHN with the same travel history and duration of SHN.
The COVID-19 tests will continue to be administered before the end of the SHN.
On Tuesday, the MTF announced that from 11.59pm on Wednesday, all long-term pass holders and short-term visitors with recent travel history to the UK within the last 14 days would not be allowed entry into Singapore, or transit through Singapore.
A day later, Singapore confirmed its first case infected with a new variant of the novel coronavirus that is spreading rapidly in the UK, as well as 11 others who have tested preliminarily positive for the strain.
The B.1.1.7 variant is said to be up to 70 per cent more transmissible than the previously dominant strain in the UK. It had acquired a relatively high number of 23 mutations in its genetic code and some of these looked as if they could potentially affect the virus’ ability to spread.
The strain has been detected in Australia, Italy and the Netherlands.
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