Travellers check in for the flight at the Singapore Airlines counter in the departure hall at Changi International Airport in Singapore on December 2, 2021.
Roslan Rahman | AFP | Getty Images
Singapore will freeze new ticket sales for quarantine-free travel in an effort to limit exposure to imported omicron cases, the health ministry said in a statement Wednesday.
The suspension, which begins Thursday and runs through Jan. 20, applies to flights and buses into the city-state.
Travelers who have already booked tickets under Singapore’s vaccinated travel lane arrangements will still be able to enter the country without serving quarantines.
“Our border measures will help to buy us time to study and understand the Omicron variant, and to strengthen our defences, including enhancing our healthcare capacity, and getting more people vaccinated and boosted,” the health ministry said.
Singapore has so far detected 65 imported omicron cases. As of Monday, there were six local omicron cases in the country, the health ministry said.
After Jan. 20, the number of people allowed to visit Singapore without serving quarantines will be temporarily reduced, according to the press release.
The health ministry said the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and the Ministry of Trade and Industry will provide more details on vaccinated travel lanes via air and land, respectively.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.