Covid-19 travel alert: US adds Singapore to its list of 'very high' risk travel destinations

SINGAPORE - The United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has added Singapore to its list of "very high" risk travel destinations.

Under its Travel Notices, the CDC raised Singapore to Level 4, its highest risk category, from Level 3 previously.

The notice cited: "Level 4: Very High Level of Covid-19 in Singapore."

The notice asked US residents to "avoid travel to Singapore".

"If you must travel to Singapore, make sure you are fully vaccinated before travel.

"Because of the current situation in Singapore, even fully vaccinated travellers may be at risk for getting and spreading Covid-19 variants," the CDC said.

It asked travellers to "follow recommendations or requirements in Singapore, including wearing a mask and staying six feet (1.83m) apart from others".

The CDC announcement followed a statement on Monday (Oct 18) by the US State Department urging against travel to Singapore due to Covid-19 cases.

Singapore on Monday reported 2,553 new Covid-19 infections, comprising 2,008 new cases in the community, 544 in migrant worker dormitories and one imported case.

Singapore recently announced the expansion of a quarantine-free travel scheme for travellers vaccinated against Covid-19. 

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The first flight under the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) will touch down in Singapore on Wednesday, in the next step of the reopening of Singapore's borders.

SQ329 operated by Singapore Airlines (SIA) is expected to land at Changi Airport at 5.55am on Wednesday. 

It was to depart from Amsterdam in the Netherlands at 11.15am local time (5.15pm Singapore time) on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the VTL flight from the United States, SQ23, is expected to depart from New York on Tuesday evening local time, and land in Singapore at 5.20am on Thursday.

The Netherlands and the US are among eight of the latest countries the Republic has opened up VTLs with. The other countries are Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Spain and Britain.

Singapore had earlier opened up VTLs with Germany and Brunei on Sept 8. It will jointly launch VTLs with South Korea on Nov 15.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.