|
 Singapore will establish travel corridors with countries or regions
where COVID-19 is under control, and those who are vaccinated may
not have to quarantine or may be allowed to isolate at home, Finance
Minister Lawrence Wong said.
The city-state is also set to review whether to loosen curbs in
early August, when two-thirds of its population would be fully
inoculated.
"The easing will be differentiated and extended to only vaccinated
persons, because they are much better protected against the effects
of the virus," Wong said. "If you want to go out to dine in the
restaurant or workout in the gym, you have to be fully vaccinated."
Last week, the country tightened social curbs, including halting
restaurant dining and banning gatherings of more than two people for
one month, after a rise in infections.
More than half the country has received both doses of either Pfizer-BioNTech
or Moderna vaccines. It has inoculated nearly 75% of its 5.7 million
people with at least one dose, the world's second-highest rate
behind the United Arab Emirates, a Reuters tracker shows.
[to top of second column] |
 As countries with advanced
vaccination campaigns prepare to live with
COVID-19 as an endemic disease, their focus is
turning to preventing death and serious diseases
through vaccination. Still,
Singapore may not do away with all of its social distancing
measures. For example, it may remove its mask mandate for outdoors,
but require people to keep them on in an indoor enclosed
environment, Wong said.
As of July 25, Singapore had 1,537 active cases, with 12 cases of
serious illness requiring oxygen, and two patients in critical
condition in the intensive care unit (ICU). None of the 14 cases is
fully vaccinated.
(Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan and Chen Lin in Singapore; Editing
by Ed Davies)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content |
