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Singapore to launch vaccinated travel lanes with India, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia

Singapore will extend its vaccinated travel lane (VTL) scheme to more countries starting from Nov 29, according to the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Monday (Nov 15). The country intends to launch VTLs with India and Indonesia from Nov 29,and with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from Dec 6. Speaking at the COVID-19 multi-ministry task force press conference on Monday, Transport Minister S Iswaran said Singapore and India have been discussing the mutual recognition of vaccination certificates. Since Nov 12, India has started recognising vaccination certificates issued by Singapore. “This means that fully vaccinated travellers from Singapore entering India will no longer need to undergo post-arrival tests home quarantine, they will just need to self monitor for 14 days upon arrival,” said Mr Iswaran. MOH, added Mr Iswaran, has also updated its public health assessment and will upgrade India to Category 2 from Nov 19. "We are in discussions on the resumption of scheduled commercial passenger services (with India). As today the only flights from Singapore allowed to carry passengers to India are government charter relief flights under the Vande Bharat mission." He added: "Our discussions with India are progressing well. And we aim to resume two daily VTL flights each to Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai by Nov 29. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) will provide more details once finalised." UNILATERAL VTL WITH INDONESIA As for the upcoming VTL with Indonesia, Mr Iswaran said it will be a unilateral vaccination travel lane for now. “Indonesia remains closed to general travel, but has started to open its borders. Since Oct 14, Indonesia has unilaterally reopened its borders to allow visitors from 19 countries,” said Mr Iswaran. “We hope that Indonesia will likewise soon reopen its borders to travellers from Singapore.” For a start, Mr Iswaran said, there will be two daily designated services between Singapore and Jakarta. This will progressively be increased to four. Applications for short-term visitors and long-term pass holders will start on Nov 22 for travellers from India and Indonesia, while travellers from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and UAE will be able to apply from Nov 29. Returning Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents who are fully vaccinated will not need to apply if they are travelling via the VTL. “Travellers intending to travel from Singapore to these countries/regions are advised to check the prevailing entry requirements of the destination,” said MOH in a release on Monday. Meanwhile, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said that Singapore will continue to monitor the situation in all parts of the world closely, and to ensure that travel does not impose a heavy burden on the country’s healthcare system. Noted rising infections in Europe, Mr Ong said overall infection rates in various countries including in Europe are comparable to Singapore. In particular, he highlighted the Netherlands - one of Singapore’s VTL partners - which is currently experiencing infection rates that are “slightly higher” than Singapore's and is also on an upward trajectory. Despite recent social restrictions announced by the Dutch government, Mr Ong said the task force did not think it was “necessary” to rescind the VTL or reduce the VTL quotas as yet. “Import cases or imported cases are still a very small fraction of total community cases and do not significantly affect local transmissions,” he said. “In addition, there is a quota of only six flights a week from the Netherlands and most importantly, VTL travellers are all fully vaccinated and tested before departure and upon arrival.” “Hence, it is very unlikely that continuing with a VTL will increase the burden on our hospital system and our healthcare system.” To date, Singapore has launched 13 VTLs including Australia, Canada and Germany. The country announced previously that it will be launching VTLs with Malaysia, Finland, and Sweden from Nov 29.

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Jaishankar hints at resumption of India-UAE scheduled flights in full strength

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar, who reached Dubai on Saturday morning to attend the Bani Yas Forum, indicated that scheduled flights in full strength between India and UAE may begin. Jaishankar said, "I would say in terms of airlines issue, part of it was people are very careful, the bubble arrangements, you know scheduled flights have been not operating for some time, so we are moving towards the resumption of scheduled flights. That is the call that civil aviation ministry will take. What I can tell you from my perspective is that the move towards the resumption of scheduled flights is progressing." He further said, "Today we have 97 countries which fall in category 'A' list. To my mind that itself is a step towards normalcy. Obviously that had to happen before the airline expanded. Airline policy cannot be taken for one destination or one event. I know civil aviation ministry is now looking at now as travel is easing up vaccinated people can move and there is understanding to make the move." India has also requested the UAE to remove the RTPCR test requirement at the airport as, according to present rules, passengers travelling to the UAE have to arrive six hours before at the airport to get their RTPCR test done. India said that UAE is in talks with its health authorities on the issue. The high cost of the RTPCR test at the airport is also an issue often raised by passengers travelling to the UAE, Indian Ambassador to UAE Pavan Kapoor told reporters. "We have formally taken it up with the UAE government. We have told them given the level of vaccination in India, given the low level of COVID-19 cases now and the fact that these vaccines are recognised now, we have suggested that they should try and remove this RTPCR requirement at the airport. We think it is in keeping with the situation. They promised to take it up with national NCEMA (National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority), the national health authority which will take the final call on this matter. So we are hopeful that there will be serious consideration about this."

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India opens its doors to quarantine-free travel for tourists from 99 countries

After shutting its borders to international visitors for 20 months due to the pandemic, India will now allow fully vaccinated foreign travelers from a list of nearly 100 countries to enter without the need to quarantine. In guidelines updated last week, India said travelers arriving from these countries will be allowed to skip a post-arrival Covid test, but must monitor their health for the next 14 days. As of Nov. 13, there were 99 countries on that list including the United States, U.K., Singapore, Australia, Germany, France and Brazil. The countries on the list fall into two categories: 1. Those with reciprocal agreements with the Indian government to recognize each other’s vaccine certificates for either locally approved vaccines or those recognized by the World Health Organization; 2. and countries which do not have such agreements but that allow fully vaccinated Indian citizens to travel. Visitors from countries that are not on the list will have to do a Covid test upon arrival, then spend 7 days in home quarantine and take another test on the 8th day, irrespective of their vaccination status. Notable countries missing from that list of 99 countries include China, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia. India’s Covid situation India experienced a devastating second wave that peaked in early May. It pushed the country’s health-care system to the brink as Covid-19 cases soared and hospital beds and other medical supplies ran out. Since then, cases have been trending lower while vaccination rates have somewhat picked up. Information collated by online publication, Our World In Data, showed that the 7-day rolling average of Covid cases per million people fell below 10 on Oct. 31 and has stayed that way as of Nov. 14. At its peak in May, that number was as high as 280. Still, due to the limited testing, the number of confirmed cases remain lower than the actual number of infections. Last month, India reached a notable vaccine milestone — it administered more than 1 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses since starting its ambitious vaccination program in January. Still, just under 40% of the eligible population has been fully vaccinated, falling below the pace needed to meet New Delhi’s previously announced target of inoculating every adult by the end of the year. India has approved several vaccines since starting the inoculation program. They include the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University — locally known as Covishield and manufactured by the Serum Institute — as well as Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, and Russia’s Sputnik-V. Both Covishield and Covaxin have been approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization. India has also reportedly approved its first vaccine for those under 18 — a three-dose shot produced by Indian drugmaker Cadila Healthcare.

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J-K: Picturesque bloom of saffron attract tourists to Kashmir Valley

Pampore (/topic/pampore) (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], November 15 (ANI): With the start of the saffron (/topic/saffron) harvesting season, the meadows of Jammu and Kashmir's Pampore (/topic/pampore) are attracting crowds of tourists (/topic/tourists) who flock here to witness the picturesque view of colourful flowers in bloom. Pampore (/topic/pampore) area, which is famed for its saffron (/topic/saffron) production is an attractive destination for tourists (/topic/tourists) who flock to the place during the bloom period when the fields look picturesque due to the maroon, yellow and purple hues of the saffron (/topic/saffron) flowers. These flowers have a good fragrance too and attract several tourists (/topic/tourists) who enjoy the view and love taking photographs here. Rehaan, Circle Officer of Saffron Fields at Pampore (/topic/pampore) said, "Tourists love coming here to see the saffron (/topic/saffron). The bloom has been better here and tourists (/topic/tourists) love it. The business of local growers also improves when tourists (/topic/tourists) come as they buy their produce on the spot only." "Tourists also enjoy it since they get pure saffron (/topic/saffron) hand-to-hand. They love the flowers and spend ample time. It is common for tourists (/topic/tourists) to click pictures at the Dal Lake, Mughal gardens and others, but those to stop to spend time in the saffron (/topic/saffron) fields on national highways, are left spellbound.

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Russia might seek proof of immunity to coronavirus starting next year

According to the latest rules by the Russian government, travellers are now required to show proof of immunity to COVID 19 virus. The Russian authorities have proposed that QR codes should be displayed by travellers for both air and rail journeys up until June 1. The government however has not yet decided on the date when this new rule would be implemented. According to Russia's Transport Minister, Vitaly Savelyev, "Specific medical documentation... will have to be presented during the purchase of tickets and at the boarding whether it is a plane or a railway carriage." The law is yet to get the parliament's approval, but the tentative date for the commencement of this new rule is February 1, 2022. According to reports, the QR Codes will also be necessary for restaurants, and other public places. However, this may differ from region to region, depending upon the rate of infection. The draft law also says that travellers can present a negative RT-PCR test report instead of a QR Code. Russia has surpassed 500000 deaths due to COVID-19 in November this year, according to Rosstat, a sate statistics service. Also, the country is reporting the highest number of daily infections since the pandemic broke out. Russia also has the third highest number of coronavirus related deaths. Currently, only 40 percent of the country's population is fully vaccinated.

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Dubai's second airport set to resume flight operations from May

Dubai World Central is set to reopen to passengers in May 2022, two years after the coronavirus pandemic forced the city to suspend operations at its second airport. “We’ve got to do some work on the runway at Dubai International Airport and with the reduction in capacity we’ll start to move operations back to DWC,” Chief Executive Officer Paul Griffiths said at the airshow on Sunday. “But it’s really determined by the recovery of traffic overall.” Dubai World Central will see airlines including Wizz Air, some FlyDubai operations and a few Russian airlines return, though Emirates will operate passenger flights solely out of the main Dubai International Airport for the foreseeable future. Griffiths said he is optimistic the airline industry will recover by the start of 2025. “I’m hoping that might be a fairly conservative estimate,” he said. “We may well see a rather rapid recovery if the last few weeks are anything to go by.” To prepare for higher tourist arrivals, concourse A at Dubai International is set to reopen on Nov. 24, bringing the airport to full operation. Griffiths has previously said that easing Covid-19 restrictions will boost travel through one of the world’s busiest hubs, and international visitor numbers may more than double next year.

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