SingaporeanPrime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on March 24 that in the latest move, the administrationdecided to lift most restrictions for vaccinated arrivals, along with theoutdoor mask mandate.
Singapore is one of the first countries toshift from a containment strategy to new COVID-19 normal, but had to slow some ofits easing plans due to subsequent outbreaks.
Theinfection surge caused by the Omicron variant has begun to subside in this citystate. Singapore saw the daily record of 26,000 cases when the infection wavepeaked in February, but the figure dropped to about 9,000 on March 23.
Most of the new cases show mild or nosymptoms. Notably, about 92 percent of the 5.5 million population have beenfully vaccinated while 71 percent given one booster shot.
InIndonesia, President Joko Widodo said as the COVID-19 situation continuesto improve, the government decided to relax some restriction measures,including a ban on domestictravel during the Muslim holiday season of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr in April andMay.
Muslimsin this archipelago nation can resume traditional practices during the monthwhich have been restricted over the last two years in the face of the pandemic.
Besides,foreign travellers with a negative COVID-19 PCR test result are also nowexempted from quarantine.
Earlier,Indonesia expanded the visa on arrival programme to international travellers from42 countries arriving at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali province./.