The United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) raised Singapore to Level 4, its highest risk category, from Level 3 previously. The notice to US residents urged to avoid travel and if you must, to be fully vaccinated, wear a mask and social distance.
The ultramodern city-state is now on the list of “very high” risk travel destinations due to the very high levels of Covid-19 in Singapore. Countries to be moved into Level 4 have had more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days, according to CDC criteria.
To date, Singapore has reported nearly 151,000 cases with 239 deaths but has seen a spike of new cases with 2,553 cases reported in the last 24 hours (as of this posting). The country has had a record high 70,374 COVID cases in the last 28 days according to Johns Hopkins University data.
As of October 9, 2021, a total of 9,401,855 vaccine doses have been administered to the population of nearly 6 million residents. While over 82% of Singapore is fully vaccinated – compared to only 57% of the US – the CDC along with the State Department are urging travelers to reconsider plans to Level 4 locations.
This is in contrast to Singapore announcing the expansion of a quarantine-free travel scheme for travelers vaccinated against Covid-19, under the expanded Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL). This program allows vaccinated travellers to quarantine-free travel between Singapore and seven European countries, Canada, United States and soon South Korea.
Travelers must show proof of Covid-19 vaccination and take two Covid-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests when flying into Singapore. Whether you are a short-term or long-term pass holder, you need to apply for a Vaccinated Travel Pass (VTP) to board the VTL flights to Singapore, which can be done online.