US CDC, State Dept advises citizens not to visit Singapore amid 'high COVID-19 risk'

On Monday, October 18, the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the State Department issued travel advisories to Americans, warning them not to visit Singapore citing a "very high level of COVID-19" in the country. This comes after Singapore decided to lift quarantine restrictions for vaccinated visitors from the United States. The State Department also advised Americans to postpone travel to Cyprus, Poland, Angola, Hungary, and Tunisia because of the "increased risk" of COVID-19 in those countries, according to a report by the USA Today. 

Singapore issued a new guideline allowing travellers from the US to visit the country starting from Tuesday on October 19. The guideline stated that visitors will require to show proof of vaccination and will also have to test negative on two PCR tests - one 48 hours before departure and another upon arrival. According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the Southeast Asian country has reported a total of 70,374 COVID-19 cases in the last 28 days, which is a new high. Meanwhile, the US has had more than 2.8 million cases during the same time span. In Singapore, little over 82% of the population is completely inoculated so far. 

Meanwhile, last week, the White House stated that from November 8, the United States will open its borders to overseas travellers who are completely vaccinated against COVID-19. The new statement will apply to both international air travel and land border crossings. Kevin Munoz, White House Assistant Press Secretary, had tweeted, "The US’ new travel policy that requires vaccination for foreign national travellers to the US will begin on Nov 8. This announcement & date applies to both int'l air travel & land travel [sic]." 

US first imposed travel restrictions in January 2020

It should be mentioned here that the travel restrictions in the US were first imposed in January 2020 by then President Donald Trump. The first country to put under restriction was China, however, after the move failed to stem the spread of COVID in the United States, more nations were added to the list of countries with high COVID cases. Meanwhile, the United States top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci believes that the number of COVID-19 deaths will decrease during the winter season. However, he also advised people not to lower their guards and urged them to continue using masks when attending outdoor events, regardless of whether they are vaccinated or not, claiming some communities have a high COVID-19 prevalence, reported The Hill. 

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