Travellers from Malaysia and Japan must serve SHN at dedicated facilities in Singapore

SINGAPORE - From 11.59pm on Sunday (Nov 22), all travellers entering Singapore who have a travel history in the past 14 days to Malaysia must serve a 14-day stay-home notice (SHN) at dedicated facilities.

This also applies to travellers entering Singapore to work under the Periodic Commuting Arrangement and returning Singapore-based travellers under the Singapore-Malaysia Reciprocal Green Lane.

The same rule will also apply to travellers entering Singapore who have a travel history in the past 14 days to Japan.

It applies even if the traveller had earlier obtained approval to opt out of serving their SHN at dedicated facilities to serve it at their place of residence instead.

The rule also applies to returning Singapore-based travellers under the Singapore-Japan Reciprocal Green Lane.

Previously, travellers from Japan were allowed to opt out of serving their 14-day SHN at a dedicated SHN facility and serve it at their place of residence if they had a suitable one.

Travellers from Malaysia, excluding Sabah, were also previously allowed to serve a seven-day SHN at their place of residence, while travellers with travel history to Sabah were required to serve a 14-day SHN at dedicated SHN facilities.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Friday that the tightening of border measures is due to the resurgence of cases in Malaysia and Japan.

In addition, travellers who are not Singapore citizens or permanent residents, and who have recent travel history to Malaysia within the last 14 days prior to entry will be required to take a Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction test within 72 hours before departure.

Travellers will need to present a valid negative Covid-19 test result as a condition of approval to enter Singapore.

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This requirement will take effect for those arriving in Singapore from next Friday at 11.59pm, though it will not apply for returning Singapore-based travellers under the Singapore-Malaysia Reciprocal Green Lane.

Travellers from Fiji, Finland, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Turkey will continue to be allowed to apply to opt out of dedicated SHN facilities and serve their 14-day SHN at their place of residence.

But this is provided they have not travelled, in the last consecutive 14 days prior to entry, to other countries or regions.

The exception is for when they travel within or from Fiji, Finland, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Hong Kong, Macao, Mainland China, New Zealand, Taiwan and Vietnam.

They must also be occupying their place of residence alone or only with household members who are also serving SHN with the same travel history and SHN duration.

MOH said that as the global situation evolves, it will continue to adjust Singapore’s border measures to manage the risk of importing and transmitting Covid-19 to the community.

Any changes to border measures will be updated on the Safe Travel Office website (https://safetravel.ica.gov.sg).

Travellers are advised to visit the website to check for the most updated border measures before entering Singapore and be prepared to have to adhere to prevailing border measures on entry, including payment for their stay at dedicated SHN facilities, tests and treatment.

For the latest updates on the coronavirus, visit here.

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