Stay-home notice period won't be shortened further

The isolation or stay-home notice period will not be further reduced for those who are vaccinated and unwell, and those travelling to Singapore on trips not designated under the vaccinated travel lane (VTL) arrangements.

This is because some Omicron cases are presenting later, despite the variant's shorter incubation period, Singapore's director of medical services Kenneth Mak said.

He was responding to a question put to the Covid-19 multi-ministry task force yesterday, after it was announced that the isolation duration would be shortened from 10 to seven days.

Asked if this could be further shortened to five days or fewer, Associate Professor Mak said current evidence does not give the authorities the confidence to do so.

"It is a curve where you see some cases presenting with slightly longer incubation periods, even though the majority now have slightly shorter incubation periods, compared with the Delta variant," he noted.

"It is because of this tail, where some travellers still have a longer incubation period, that we've been reluctant to move our protocols from a seven-day stay-home notice (SHN) to a shorter one of five days, or even less."

He said Singapore will continue to monitor the evolving evidence and make changes based on it. "As of now, it stays at seven days," added Prof Mak.

The SHN is for those who are vaccinated but are feeling unwell, or who have been assessed by doctors to need it.

Travellers who purchase flight tickets not designated for VTLs also have to serve at least a seven-day SHN, unless they are travelling from Hong Kong, Macau, China or Taiwan, places that the authorities have decided are lower-risk.

Those who are unvaccinated continue to serve a 14-day SHN.

But Health Minister Ong Ye Kung noted that those who recover well during their seven-day SHN need to self-isolate only for 72 hours, after which they can resume normal activities upon testing negative in an antigen rapid test.

"What we have done now is to allow smooth transition from one track to another," he said. "Along the way, we can assess that you are low-risk, your symptoms are mild. After three days, (if) you test negative, you can come out."