Travellers from 'high-risk' S'pore now have to self-isolate in Denmark
Travellers from Singapore, reclassified as high-risk country, must serve self-isolation period upon arrival
Singapore residents will no longer be able to enjoy two-way quarantine-free travel with Denmark, after the country reclassified Singapore as a country with a high risk of Covid-19 infections.
Owing to the reclassification, travellers from Singapore will have to serve a 10-day self-isolation period upon arrival in Denmark, the Embassy of Denmark said yesterday in a Facebook post.
This isolation period can be shortened if a traveller has a negative result from a Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction test which can be taken from the fourth day after his entry.
Singapore announced vaccinated travel lanes (VTLs) to Europe in the past two months for Denmark, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland and Britain. The VTLs with these countries are unilateral moves by Singapore.
They let travellers who are vaccinated against Covid-19 enter Singapore without having to serve a stay-home notice.
These 10 countries had unilaterally opened up to Singapore prior to the Republic's announcement of the VTLs, thus allowing for two-way quarantine-free travel for fully vaccinated travellers.
Denmark's move to impose quarantine requirements on travellers from Singapore comes after the Council of the European Union removed Singapore from a list of countries for which travel curbs should be lifted.
The council's recommendations on border restrictions, which were updated on Tuesday, are not legally binding.
But its 27 EU member states reference the recommendations when deciding on their border restrictions.
All the European VTL countries, except Britain and Switzerland, are member states of the EU.
NETHERLANDS
Apart from Denmark, the Netherlands has also increased its risk assessment for Singapore.
The Netherlands Embassy here said on Wednesday that Singapore is now deemed to be a very high-risk area in terms of Covid-19 infections.
From tomorrow, travellers from Singapore arriving in the Netherlands will need to show a negative Covid-19 test result.
In response to media queries, Mr Daniel Ng, director of air transport at the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, said countries have the flexibility to adjust their respective border measures to take into account the Covid-19 situation.
He added that fully vaccinated travellers from VTL countries in the EU may continue to enter Singapore without quarantine, despite the EU council removing Singapore from its list of countries for which travel restrictions should be lifted.
"Travellers from Singapore to these countries may, however, be subject to additional entry requirements," said Mr Ng.
"Travellers are therefore advised to check entry requirements, as they could vary across countries."
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now