US, Australia, Singapore ease Covid travel rules: Here's what it means for Indians
2 min read 28 Oct 2021, 10:43 AM ISTHere are the latest travel rules which Indians should know if there are travelling to the US, Australia or Singapore
PremiumWith the dip in Covid-19 cases across the globe, several countries have eased the travel guidelines to revive tourism and business activities. Recently, three big countries--the US, Singapore and Australia have issued new Covid guidelines for travellers, including Indian passengers because of the dip in cases. Previously, countries like the UK, UAE, and Canada also reopened their borders for Indians with conditions.
Here are the latest travel rules which Indians should know if there are travelling to the following countries:
The US
The US has allowed the movement of foreign travellers from November 8. The Joe Biden administration recently signed a new order imposing new vaccine requirements for most foreign nationals and has lifted Covid-19 restrictions.
As per the US government's latest order, foreign air travelers should be required to be fully vaccinated and must provide proof of vaccination status prior to boarding an airplane to the US.
However, India's who have taken Covaxin or Sputnik V Covid vaccine shot won't be able to travel to the country next month. This is because the World Health organization (WHO) has not given emergency approval to the two vaccines yet.
So far, the WHO has approved seven vaccines which include - Moderna's m-RNA-1273; Pfizer/BioNTech's BNT162b2; Johnson & Johnson' Ad26.COV2.S; Oxford/AstraZeneca's AZD1222; Serum Institute of India's Covishield; Sinopharm's BBIBP-CorV (Vero Cells), and Sinovac's CoronaVac.
The fully vaccinated Indian travellers will have to show the result of a viral test taken no more than 3 days before the flight’s departure. A traveller will be considered fully vaccinated 2 weeks after the second dose of an accepted 2-dose series COVID-19 vaccine.
Not fully vaccianted passengers need to submit a viral test no more than 1 day before the flight’s departure.
If someone has recently recovered from Covid-19 and wish to go to the US then in that cases the passengers need to travel with documentation of recovery which should not be more than 90 days old and must also carry a letter from a licensed healthcare provider or a public health official stating that you were cleared to travel.
SINGAPORE
Travellers having a 14-day travel history to India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka have been allowed to enter the country from October 26. However, such travellers will have to go through its Category IV border measures.
This means, only permanent residents of Singapore, and travellers under the Death and Critical Illness Emergency Visits Lane are allowed entry. Other travellers, including ones who have received prior entry approvals, are not allowed to enter Singapore.
Eligible candidates will have to go through the Covid-19 RT-PCR test not more than 48 hours ahead of departure. they will have to take another test upon arrival in Singapore and stay at a dedicated quarantine facility for 10 days.
AUSTRALIA
Australia has decided to open its borders from November and allow citizens and permanent residents to leave the country. The country has not foreign travellers to travel to Australia yet.
Meanwhile, Australian airline company Qantas said it will start operating flights on the Sydney-Delhi route from December 6 onwards.
Qantas said the Sydney-Delhi flight is its first commercial service between Australia and India in almost a decade.
The Sydney-Delhi flight will operate three times a week with its Airbus A330 aircraft.
