Travellers from South Korea must serve SHN at dedicated facilities: MOH
SINGAPORE — From Saturday (29 August), those entering Singapore with recent travel history, including transit, to South Korea within the last two weeks will be required to serve a 14-day Stay-Home Notice (SHN) at dedicated SHN facilities, instead of their own place of residence.
They will also need to undergo a COVID-19 test before the end of their SHN, as is the current requirement, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Wednesday.
The new rule will kick in from midnight on Saturday.
The move comes in response to a recent spike in the number of coronavirus cases in the Republic of Korea, with reported clusters in gatherings at places of worship that have spread to workplaces. Korean authorities have warned of a possible nationwide outbreak, while stricter social distancing measures have been imposed across the country.
“As the global situation evolves, we will continue to adjust our border measures to manage the risk of importation and transmission to the community,” said MOH.
The Republic has been gradually lifting border controls. From 10 August, Reciprocal Green Lane arrangements between Singapore and Malaysia enabled cross-border travel for essential business and official purposes between both countries.
However, last month, authorities mandated that those with recent travel history, including transit, to Australia’s Victoria state, Japan and Hong Kong within the last 14 days were also required to serve their SHN at dedicated facilities instead of their own place of residence.
COVID-19 taskforce co-chair Lawrence Wong said that this action was taken “given the resurgence of cases in these regions”.
He added, “Our border measures are not static. They are not cast in stone. We are constantly reviewing and updating them based on our assessment of the viral situation in different countries.”
On Tuesday, Singapore confirmed a five-month low of 31 new COVID-19 cases, bringing its total to 56,435.
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