Singapore has begun lifting travel restrictions for visitors from Taiwan.
An announcement from Singapore’s Civil Aviation Authority said single-entry passes were being made available as of December 18 for Taiwanese who can show they haven’t left the island nation for 14 consecutive days prior to entry.
Requirement also include mandatory Covid-19 tests on arrival and registration for a special contact-tracing app that visitors must keep activated during their stay.
The move follows unilateral action by the Taiwanese government to reduce the quarantine period for essential business travelers from Singapore to five days.
It appears a new advisory from the government of the city-state will likewise permit tourist travel to Taiwan with the requirement that residents undergo testing on their return in lieu of a seven-day stay-at-home mandate.
The CAA’s announcement comes after the lifting of restrictions for travelers from Australia, Brunei Darussalam, China, New Zealand and Vietnam.
Hong Kong had been slated for inclusion on the list, but that was halted in response to a surge in new Covid cases in the Chinese territory and won’t be reviewed before the new year.
“When you are a hub it’s harder to keep your cases low,” said Singapore Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung. “So Hong Kong is going through a bit of struggle. I really hope that now with more rigorous testing, greater social distancing measures and restrictions, (the curve) will start to turn down. But I don’t want to guess. I can just hope the very best for our partners.”
At the same time, he hailed the new agreements with Taiwan, which has reported no local cases of the virus in more than six months. He described the country as “a very safe partner.”
