Minister of Transport S Iswaran said in Parliament on 10 January that there have been about 2,600 imported cases of omicron in Singapore, which makes up 60% of the total number of Omicron cases here.
The total number of Omicron cases in Singapore at the moment is 4,322, according to Minister of Health Ong Ye Kung.
The imported cases from the US and UK account for about 16 percent of the cases each, and India contributed 11%.
Iswaran also added that the bulk of the imported cases were Singapore Citizens, PRs and long-term visit pass holders who were returning to Singapore.
Short-term visitors made up less than 10% of all the Omicron cases.
VTL schemes
Iswaran said that the expansion of the VTL scheme is halted, and the launch of VTLs to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE were also deferred.
The daily quota of VTL air travelers have also been maintained at 10,000 instead of increasing it to 15,000 as planned.
VTL flight and bus tickets sales have also been frozen until 20 January, and the testing regime for VTL travelers are also tightened.
VTL travelers are also required to undergo daily self-administered ART tests from day 2 to day 7 of their arrival in Singapore – those who test positive will then take a PCR test to confirm the results.
Several years for air travel to recover
Iswaran added that while air travel will take several years to recover, the government is confident of the long-term potential of air travel and is “resolutely committed” to rebuilding Singapore’s status as an international air hub.
Iswaran also spoke about the growth of air travel in Singapore for 2021, he said:
“Compared to 3% at the start of 2021, passenger traffic at Changi increased to about 15% of pre-Covid levels by end-December 2021, largely aided by our VTL schemes.”
He then cited a study by IATA and Oxford Economics, where the projected international passenger volume at the end of 2022 will recover to about 55% of 2019’s levels and “barring unexpected setbacks like Omicron”, they are anticipating further recovery in 2022.