5 Covid-19 cases out of 5,134 who arrived in S'pore via VTL

Five travellers have tested positive for Covid-19 out of the 5,134 travellers who have entered Singapore under the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) scheme so far.

Transport Minister S. Iswaran revealed these figures during a virtual media interview yesterday as he announced plans to further expand the scheme to Australia and Switzerland from Nov 8.

The VTL scheme allows travellers vaccinated against Covid-19 to enter Singapore without having to serve a stay-home notice. Instead, they must take two Covid-19 tests.

Singapore started VTLs for travellers from Germany and Brunei on Sept 8. It extended the scheme to travellers from Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Britain and the United States on Oct 19. It is due to start another VTL with South Korea on Nov 15.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore yesterday said that as at Monday, 290 travellers from Brunei and 6,226 from Germany received approval for travel to Singapore between Sept 8 and Nov 30. Of these, 152 VTL holders from Brunei and 3,610 from Germany have entered Singapore so far.

Meanwhile, 8,583 travellers from the other VTL countries received approval to travel to Singapore between Oct 19 and Nov 30, as at 11.59pm on Monday. Of these, 1,372 travellers have entered Singapore.

Asked whether it is prudent for Singapore to expand the VTL scheme, given that the healthcare system is currently strained, Mr Iswaran pointed to the precautions in place, including capping the number of people entering through the VTLs and opening up to only countries in a less risky category.

On whether the Government considered public sentiment about the VTLs, he said the scheme facilitates travel into and out of Singapore. He noted that there are many residents here who have families abroad who they want to see in person.

He added that the circumstances around travelling - both in Singapore and the countries it has opened up to - will continue to be adjusted based on how the pandemic develops.