About 2,500 travellers arrived in Singapore via reciprocal green lanes from June 8 to Dec 25 last year, with two among them testing positive for Covid-19, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said.

Some 835 of the travellers came from three Asean states - Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, he said in Parliament on Tuesday.

Another 1,640 or so came from China, South Korea and Japan, while about 15 arrived from Germany.

Mr Gan, who co-chairs the multi-ministry task force combating Covid-19, also said that as at Dec 26, two people from Japan were detected with the virus during the mandatory test on arrival here for such travellers.

The reciprocal green lane facilitates short-term essential business and official travel between Singapore and its counterpart countries or regions. The first such arrangement kicked in on June 8 last year, between Singapore and China, in what was then called a "fast lane".

Six provinces and municipalities in China - Chongqing, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Tianjin and Zhejiang - were included then, and Singapore currently continues to admit travellers from these places under the arrangement.

Under the reciprocal green lane, either a company or government agency in Singapore can sponsor or apply for a prospective traveller to visit Singapore, at least 14 days before arrival.

On arrival here, these travellers must test negative for Covid-19 before they can proceed with a 14-day itinerary submitted by their sponsor during the application process.

Besides the reciprocal green lane, Singapore has in place two other travel arrangements for arrivals from several countries and territories.

The air travel pass allows for all forms of travel without quarantine, provided visitors test negative for Covid-19 on arrival.

The periodic commuting arrangement allows residents of Singapore and Malaysia, with long-term immigration passes for business and work purposes in the other country, to periodically return home for short-term home leave.

Ng Keng Gene