Singapore to Fully Reopen, No Test for Vaccinated Travellers

The prime ministers of Singapore and Malaysia just announced that the land border between both countries will fully reopen starting April 1.

In a joint announcement, Lee Hsien Loong and Ismail Sabri Yaakob said fully vaccinated travellers will be permitted to travel to and fro without undergoing any tests or quarantine.

"This will apply to all categories of travellers and modes of transport via the land border," said the statement.

 

Singapore's ease of restriction

This announcement comes after Singapore further relaxed its Covid-19 SOPs, including lifting almost all restrictions for fully vaccinated visitors and dropping requirements to wear masks outdoors from Tuesday.

In March, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri said Malaysia's international borders will reopen from April 1, allowing citizens to travel in and out of the country as they did before Covid-19 struck.

At the time, Singapore held back on setting a firm date for reopening the country's side of the Causeway as its officials were working out detailed agreements with Malaysia.

Singapore's trade minister Gan Kim Yong, the co-chair of the Covid-19 task force, had said the city-state's immigration and transport authorities were figuring out operational details to guarantee a smooth and safe reopening.

The full reopening of the borders with Singapore was one of the hot topics during the recently concluded elections in Johor. Parties said this move would significantly boost the state's economy.

 

No need for Covid test for fully vaccinated travellers

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin also announced today that starting April 1, fully vaccinated travellers will be able to cross the land border between Malaysia and Singapore without undertaking a Covid-19 test both before departure and upon arrival. 

Khairy told a press conference in Parliament that fully vaccinated travellers also do not need to undergo any quarantine. These are part of the specific protocols for all travellers who cross the Malaysia-Singapore land border. 

Those who travel by air between Malaysia and Singapore do not need to undergo Covid-19 testing and quarantine upon arrival. 

All fully vaccinated travellers passing through the two countries' air border must undergo Covid-19 testing two days before departure. However, he explained that these travellers do not need to go through quarantine and do Covid-19 testing upon arrival.

 

Thailand: Two entry points for travel by land

The Health Minister also informed that beginning April 1, travel by land between Malaysia and Thailand will also be allowed. But, there will be only two entry points during the initial stage, namely the Wang Kelian-Wang Prachan and Bukit Kayu Hitam-Sadao entry points.

He said that the Thai government is only prepared to accept travelling tourists. Discussions are still happening between Thailand and Malaysia for daily and frequent travellers.

Khairy said that for now, the standard protocol for general travellers applies to those who travel from Thailand.

 

Repeal of travelling procedures

Khairy also said that the government had repealed eight procedures for travellers from April 1 in conjunction with the reopening of Malaysia's borders.

The procedures include: 

• the use of digital tracker,

• the list of 18 high-risk countries, 

• Langkawi International Tourism Bubble (LITB),

• the One-Stop Centre (OSC) programme,

• Covid-19 RT-PCR detection test counter by the Health Ministry at KLIA, and 

• MyTravelPass.

 

Sources: FMT & The Edge Markets