Singapore added to travel corridors ‘green’ list
People from England will now be able to travel to Singapore without needing to quarantine on return in a welcome boost to the travel industry.
This afternoon the Department for Transport announced that the city-state would be added to its list of travel corridors, along with Thailand.
However, people returning from Slovenia and Guadeloupe will now have to self-isolate for 14 days, officials added.
The new measures will come into effect in the early hours of Saturday morning.
“Thailand and Singapore have been added to the Government’s Travel Corridor list following a decrease in confirmed cases of coronavirus”, the DfT said in a statement.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps said that travellers should check with local guidelines before going to the east Asian countries.
Clive Wratten, CEO of the Business Travel Association (BTA) says: “We welcome the news that Singapore has now joined the list of quarantine exempt countries for travel into and out of the UK as it is a major business destination.
“However, the fluctuating quarantine rules mean business travel remains at a virtual standstill. We urge the Government to implement testing on departure at airports for business travellers so this vital enabler of the British economy can start to contribute once again.”
On the other hand, there has been a marked increase in cases in the southern European and central American countries.
In Slovenia, the number of confirmed cases per 100,000 people over the last seven days has increased from 14.4 to 29.1.
Ministers are using 20 cases per 100,000 as one of the key benchmarks for adding a country to the quarantine list.
Meanwhile, in Guadeloupe, the number of cases has risen 558 per cent over the last month, the DfT said.