Singapore will eliminate the requirement to wear masks indoors beginning August 29, as the country’s COVID-19 situation improves, the health minister announced on Wednesday.
People in the Southeast Asian city-state will no longer be required to wear masks indoors, except on public transportation and in high-risk settings such as health care facilities, for the first time in more than two years.
The health ministry also changed the rules for non-vaccinated travellers, removing the requirement for a seven-day quarantine beginning next week. Singapore, a major Asian financial and travel hub, lifted most pandemic restrictions, including travel bans, earlier this year.
The city-5.5 state’s million people have already contracted COVID-19, according to Ong Ye Kung, the health minister, who added that the re-infection rate is “very low” so far.
Singapore has vaccinated more than 90% of its population and has one of the world’s lowest COVID-19 mortality rates.
