Americans warned against travel to Singapore due to ‘very high level of COVID-19’

The U.S. State Department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are warning Americans against traveling to Singapore, citing a “very high level of COVID-19.”

The State Department issued an advisory on Monday saying the CDC has issued a Level 4 Travel Health Notice for Singapore.

“Do not travel to Singapore due to COVID-19,” the State Department’s advisory reads.

“If you must travel to Singapore, make sure you are fully vaccinated before travel,” the CDC notice says. “Because of the current situation in Singapore, even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants.”

Singapore has reported more than 73,000 new COVID-19 cases in the past month, which is nearly half of the 150,000 infections it has seen since the beginning of the pandemic, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

More than half of the country’s COVID-19 deaths have come in the past month: 179 of a total 239 fatalities.

About 82 percent of the population in Singapore is fully vaccinated against the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The State Department and CDC advisories also come after Singapore announced that it was nixing its quarantine policy for vaccinated travelers who depart from the U.S.

Starting Tuesday, inoculated U.S. travelers will be allowed to enter Singapore through the vaccinated travel lane if they present proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 48 hours of starting their travel, and take another test once they arrive. While the test is pending, they must remain in isolation.

The State Department also issued a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” advisory on Monday for Kazakhstan, and “Level 3: Reconsider Travel” alerts for Tunisia, Poland, Hungary, Eswatini, Djibouti, Cyprus and Angola because of a high levels of COVID-19.

The Biden administration announced late last month that it planned to scale back restrictions for fully vaccinated international travelers entering the U.S. in November.

All foreign travelers will have to show proof of vaccination before boarding an airline headed for the U.S. Visitors will also be required to present a negative COVID-19 test that was taken within 72 hours of flying.

There will not be a quarantine requirement, however, there will be close contact tracing and mandatory mask-wearing.