All the long-term pass holders and the short-term visitors who have been to Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka in the last 14 days will not be allowed to enter Singapore.
Singapore's Education Minister Lawrence Wong, who co-chairs the multi-ministry Covid-19 task force, made the announcement at a virtual press conference on Friday.
The ban will come into effect from 11:59pm on Saturday, reports The Straits Times.
The measure also applies to people who had transited through the four countries and secured prior clearance to enter Singapore.
However, permanent residents of the country who had been to the four nations would be kept outside the purview of the ban.
The move comes in light of the recent surge in Covid-19 cases and deaths in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka, according to a press release of the Ministry of Health of Singapore.
Wong said: “Since we last announced some border measures, the situation unfortunately has continued to deteriorate, and we know that the infection is spreading beyond India to the surrounding countries."
The latest entry ban follows a decision to prohibit long-term pass holders and short-term visitors who had gone to India in the last two weeks from entering or transiting through Singapore, in view of a second wave of the pandemic in India.
India reported 386,452 fresh Covid-19 cases on Friday, while fatalities from the pandemic increased by 3,498, according to the country’s health ministry.
Bangladesh has been witnessing a rise in coronavirus infections and deaths since late March as well. It recorded 57 Covid-19 deaths and 2,177 cases in the 24 hours till Friday morning, taking the total death toll and caseload to 11,450 and 759,132, respectively.
Amid the travel restrictions enforced to curb the spread of coronavirus, the government had announced that it would allow airlines to operate flights with Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates from April 17 to facilitate the return of migrant workers.
The scheduled flights would be declared as special flights, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism said in a press release.
