Singapore Reopening For Tourism To U.S, UK and Canada Starting October 19
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Singapore will reopen its borders to fully vaccinated American, British, and Canadian tourists on October 19th after 19 months of closure. 

Singapore started a limited reopening to travelers from Germany and Brunei last month. However, Singapore is now extending its ‘vaccinated travel lane’ to travelers from the following nations:

  • Canada
  • Denmark
  • France
  • Italy
  • Netherlands
  • Spain
  • United Kingdom
  • United States

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) made the announcement after authorities only detected two COVID-19 cases among 1,926 people from Germany and Brunei in the vaccinated travel lane program so far.

The new scheme will allow 3,000 travelers from 11 nations to enter Singapore daily, which will increase as time progresses.

The Entry Requirements 

All travelers from the 11 approved nations will have to apply online for a vaccinated travel pass. All incoming travelers must be fully vaccinated to enter Singapore at the current stage. Travelers must have remained within the 11 approved nations for 14 days prior to arriving in Singapore.

If travelers have been in any countries outside the 11 nations within 14 days of departure to Singapore, they won’t be allowed to enter regardless of vaccination status.

Travelers will have to take two PCR tests, which is a decrease from 4 PCR tests previously.

The first PCR test has to be within 48 hours of departure. The second PCR test is upon arriving at Singapore Changi Airport. Once the negative test result is confirmed, travelers can leave self-isolation.

Additionally, travelers must use the TraceTogether app for contact tracing within Singapore and have mandatory travel health insurance that covers COVID-19 related health issues.

How To Get To Singapore

Travelers flying to Singapore will have to fly on designated vaccinated travel lane flights. These include Singapore Airlines flights from the following airports:

  • Amsterdam (AMS)
  • Barcelona (BCN)
  • Copenhagen (CPH)
  • London (LHR)
  • Los Angeles (LAX)
  • Milan (MXP)
  • New York (JFK)
  • Paris (CDG)
  • Seoul (ICN)
  • Rome (FCO)
All British Airways flights will be designated vaccinated travel lane flights. British Airways flights from London will increase to three times per week in November.

As the Asian continent begins to reopen, travelers can transit through Changi Airport to other destinations.

The COVID-19 Situation In Singapore 

Singapore had initially pursued a zero-COVID strategy for most of the COVID-19 pandemic. That was successful as cases stayed in the single digits from August 2020 to June 2021.

However, the emergence of the Delta variant started a COVID-19 outbreak in September, which is causing record-breaking cases in Singapore.

The current 7-day average in Singapore is 3,045 cases. That’s an almost 300 percent increase on the 7-day case average in August.

With that said, Singapore has one of the highest vaccination rates worldwide. Singapore has fully vaccinated 83 percent of its entire population, after administering 9.79 million doses since the vaccine rollout started.

Despite the record-breaking rising cases in Singapore, the nation is planning to scrap its zero-COVID strategy and open up to the world.

Singapore’s Finance Minister stated, “Once you open up, more social interactions will happen. And given the inherently highly transmissible nature of the Delta variant, you will get big clusters emerging.”

Singapore is another Asian destination that’s reopening to Western travelers after complete closure since the pandemic started.

Thailand has recently announced its plan to scrap mandatory quarantine on arrival for British and American tourists.

What’s more, Bali is reopening to tourists after 19 months of closure this month, and Malaysia is planning to open its borders later this year.

Asia has been the most restricted part of the world during the pandemic, but finally, the continent is reopening to the world. 

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