Indians will finally be able to travel to Singapore again, as the tiny city-state has announced that it will be lifting its Indian travel ban. The country had imposed an embargo on Indian travellers and those who had travelled to India.

“All travellers with a 14-day travel history to Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka prior to departure to Singapore will be allowed to enter and transit through Singapore from 11.59 pm on Oct 26," Singapore's Strait Times reported, quoting its health ministry.

However, Singaporean authorities have stated that the travellers will still be subject to strict quarantine rules.

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“Travellers from these countries will be subject to Category IV border measures. They will still be required to serve their 10-day stay-home notice (SHN) at dedicated SHN facilities,” the statement from the ministry added.

The change in rules come at a time when Singapore has switched to a new model of dealing with the pandemic. Unlike Indians, fully-vaccinated travellers from 15 countries -- including Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates -- will not have to undergo the mandatory quarantine when they land in Singapore.

The country is also extending some of its restrictions in preparation for the potential influx of tourists, workers and business travellers. The country’s COVID-19 task force said the current restrictions will be extended till November 21. From January 1, 2022, only employees who are fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 in the past nine months, can return to the workplace.

Also read: Malaysia lifts travel restrictions for fully vaccinated people

While Singapore had managed to sail past the pandemic with very few casualties, compared to some of its neighbouring nations, the decision to open up the country in August suddenly led to a spurt in infections. The country had decided to move away from the zero-transmission model to a mass-vaccination model in August, but the breakthrough Delta variant-induced infections forced authorities to re-impose the curbs.

Many of the new infections came through the migrant workers’ community, which had much lower vaccination rates than the national vaccination figures. At the moment, Singapore has managed to fully vaccinate 84 percent of its adult population and 85 percent of the population has received at least one dose of the vaccine.

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(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)