India removes Singapore from list of ‘at risk’ nations despite 3 Omicron cases there

New Delhi, Dec 9: Even as Singapore has reported more than a couple of COVID-19 cases infected by Omicron variant, the Union government removed the country from the list of ‘at-risk’ nations on Thursday, the latest notification published by the Union Health Ministry showed
Now the passengers arriving in India from Singapore will not need to undergo mandatory testing and quarantine measures as required by those who travel from ‘at risk’ nations designated by the Centre.
India had added several countries to the list of ‘at-risk’ nations after the threat of Omicron, a new variant of the COVID-19 emerged. The travellers from such countries are required to follow additional measures on arrival in India including post-arrival testing for COVID-19 infection.
Notably, Singapore has reported three cases of Omicron while India currently has 23 cases of the new variant.
According to ‘Our World in Data’, a statistical portal also used by the Union Health Ministry, more than 88 per cent of Singapore’s population is fully vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines, over 89 per cent has received at least one dose and 13 per cent have received booster shots.
In the revised list of ‘at-risk’ nations, countries that currently feature are European countries including the UK, South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Ghana, Mauritius, New Zealand, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Hong Kong and Israel, according to the notification.
However, in India, most of those among 23 cases that tested positive for Omicron either recently arrived from African countries or were in contact with such people.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that the Omicron has reached 57 countries and warned that the number of patients needing hospitalisation is likely to rise as the variant spreads.
On November 26, the WHO classified the highly mutant COVID-19 variant B.1.1529 or Omicron variant, first detected in southern Africa, as a ‘variant of concern’.