Coronavirus: Singapore eases travel restrictions despite expecting ‘significant wave’ of Omicron cases, predicting up to 15,000 a day

Reduction in isolation period for the fully vaccinated among eased measures, as officials shift focus away from headline infection numbers. But social-distancing measures will stay through Lunar New Year

News comes as health minister Ong Ye Kung suggests a tiny percentage of anti-vaxxers in the country are ‘free-riding’ on the goodwill of others

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Travellers at Changi International Airport in Singapore. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:01pm, 21 Jan 2022Updated: 6:09pm, 21 Jan 2022

Singapore is to begin easing some Omicron-related travel and health-care rules despite projections by its virus task force that the city state is facing a “significant wave” that could bring up to 15,000 cases a day.

Under the relaxed measures announced on Friday, those infected who showed symptoms but were fully vaccinated would only have to isolate themselves for seven days instead of 10, while children could recover at home.

Meanwhile, incoming travellers using vaccinated travel lanes no longer have to undergo supervised swab tests. Those who have recently recovered from Covid-19 get to skip all testing when they travel.

Social-distancing measures, however, will remain through the Lunar New Year period and measures at hospitals and residential care homes will be tightened.

On Thursday, Singapore’s weekly Covid-19 infection growth rate rose to 2.17, the highest it has been since September 16 last year, when it was 2.25.

The news came as Singapore’s health minister Ong Ye Kung suggested a tiny percentage of anti-vaxxers in the country were “free-riding” on the goodwill of those who inoculated themselves against Covid-19.

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