Singaporeans who travelled overseas on or after March 27 can now tap government subsidies, insurance in case of infection

[SINGAPORE] Singapore citizens, permanent residents and long-term pass holders who had travelled out of Singapore on or after March 27 will now be able to access government subsidies and insurance coverage for treatment in case they are found to be infected with the Covid-19 virus after their return.

This is in line with the move to progressively reopen Singapore's borders, the Ministry of Health said on Tuesday (Oct 20).

It had previously said that those who left Singapore from March 27 will be responsible for their own bills and cannot access government subsidies or insurance coverage if they get Covid-19 symptoms within 14 days of their return to Singapore.

Exceptions are made for those who travel on permitted travel arrangements such as reciprocal green lanes, and for students who travel overseas for full-time studies.

MOH also said on Tuesday that the government will continue to pay any Covid-19 medical bill for Singaporeans, permanent residents and long-term pass holders who had left Singapore before March 27.

It added that it will have to gradually reopen Singapore's borders further. "Unlike larger countries which can keep their borders closed, our livelihoods and economic survival depend heavily on Singapore being open to the world and being a key international and travel hub," said the ministry."It is therefore not possible for Singapore to keep our borders closed indefinitely. We will have to gradually allow more travel to resume in a safe manner." While travellers from some countries, such as China and New Zealand, can now enter Singapore without spending two weeks in isolation under special arrangements, those who are from countries deemed to have higher risks of Covid-19 infection will still have to serve 14 days in quarantine.

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MOH said it will look into more frequent testing and other safeguards to enable more travellers to enter Singapore without having to be quarantined.

Education Minister Lawrence Wong, who co-chairs the task force fighting the Covid-19 outbreak, said in a briefing on Tuesday that the compulsory isolation period is the "main deterrent to travel today".

Mr Wong said: "We have been looking at ways in which we can allow for people to come in without having to serve this 14 days self-isolation period. "But in return to ensure that they are safe, we deploy more frequent testing. So, an example of such a use case may be a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test when you arrive, and later on, the more frequent testing may be done through an antigen test."

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