India Puts S’pore as ‘At Risk’ Country & Requires Travellers from S’pore to Serve 7-Day Home Quarantine

If there’s one thing COVID-19 has shown the world, including Singapore, it’s that nothing is certain.

A Vaccinated-Travel-Lane (VTL) that probably takes quite a bit of time and effort to reach? It might just change in two days. Easy.

India Puts S’pore as ‘At Risk’ Country & Requires Travellers from S’pore to Serve 7-Day Home Quarantine

On 29 Nov 2021, it was reported that Singapore is one of twelve economies that will be categorised as “at-risk” countries by India.

The list includes:

• Singapore
• The United Kingdom
• South Africa
• Brazil
• Bangladesh
• Israel
• Hong Kong
• Botswana
• Mauritius
• New Zealand
• Zimbabwe

According to a statement by the Indian government, travellers from these countries will have to go post-arrival testing.

These tests will have to be paid for by the travellers themselves.

Should they test negative, they’ll need to be quarantined at home for seven days, with another test conducted on the eighth day. They will need to self-monitor for the next seven days as well.

If they test positive, they will undergo “stringent isolation protocols”.

Came Two Days After VTL Flights Landed In Both Countries

This comes two days after the VTL between Singapore and India took off on Monday, 29 Nov 2021.

The situation might’ve changed due to the omicron variant of COVID-19.

The variant, which was first detected in South Africa, is said to be “poorly recognised” by current vaccines.

The new restrictions were put into place after a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to a statement on the situation by the government.

To date, Singapore has not detected any Omicron variant of the COVID-19 here in Singapore.

But, it seems, two have passed through Singapore.

Join our Telegram channel for more entertaining and informative articles at https://t.me/goodyfeedsg or download the Goody Feed app here: https://goodyfeed.com/app/

2 SIA Passengers Who Transited in S’pore Later Tested Positive for Omicron Variant

According to MOH, the New South Wales Heath Ministry in Australia has confirmed that two travellers who arrived in Sydney after transiting in Singapore had tested positive for the Omicron variant.

The travellers had come from Johannesburg, South Africa and arrived in Singapore on Sunday (27 Nov) via Singapore Airlines SQ481.

Most of the passengers aboard had remained in the transit area at Changi Airport until their departure for Sydney on 28 November, MOH said, and did not enter Singapore or visit other areas in Changi Airport.

Seven passengers had disembarked and entered Singapore, while six are currently on 10-day Stay-Home Notice (SHN) at a dedicated facility and will undergo a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.

The two travellers who are confirmed carriers of the Omicron variant had tested negative on their pre-departure tests last Saturday (26 Nov).

One of the passengers on the flight was a close contact of an infected individual and has been quarantined as well.

“Contact tracing is ongoing for airport staff who may have come into transient contact with the cases,” it added.

Read Also:

• WHO Warns That the World Should be Prepared as Omicron Will be a High Global Risk
• Everything About the 2 SIA Passengers in S’pore Who Tested Positive for Omicron Variant
• NCID Responds to Omicron Variant; Says a Lot of ‘Urgent Work’ is Needed

Feature Image: Leonid Andronov / Shutterstock.com