Singapore is preparing to add nine countries to its "travel lanes" scheme that allows vaccinated visitors to enter the city-state without the need for quarantine.
The government said the scheme, which was introduced last month for Brunei and Germany, will be expanded to Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, South Korea, Spain and the United States next month.
Transport Minister S Iswaran said travellers from those countries are required “to present verifiable and authenticated digital proof of vaccination as a precondition for entry”.
Most of the 11 countries on the list are already open to travellers from Singapore.
Singapore has already reopened its borders to visitors from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau, which are deemed very low-risk.
“While still a far cry from where we were pre-Covid, this is a significant step in the reopening of our borders, and crucial to reclaiming and rebuilding our status as an international aviation hub with global connectivity,” Mr Iswaran said.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong went on television on Saturday to tell residents it was time to move on and learn to live with Covid-19 without being paralysed by fear.
The city-state can’t stay “locked down and closed off indefinitely”, he said, adding that it could take three to six months to get to a new normal.
On Friday, Singapore reported 3,580 new Covid-19 cases, the highest number of daily infections so far, raising its total to 120,454, with 142 fatalities, since the first case early last year.
