Singapore has decided to reduce the stay-home notice (SHN) duration for all inbound travelers from 21 to 14 days, effective Wednesday, 23 June 2021, 2359 hours.
In a statement released today, MOH said that it found no evidence the new COVID-19 variants come with longer incubation periods, and that all 270 imported cases since 8 May (when the 21 day SHN policy came into effect) had incubation periods well within the 14-day window.
Changes to SHN regime
With the latest changes, here’s a summary of the SHN policy based on travel history, effective 23 June 2021, 2359 hours.
| ๐ท SHN Policy by Country/Region | ||
| Travel History | SHN Duration |
|
| ๐ฆ๐บ | Australia (excluding Victoria state) | N/A |
| ๐ง๐ณ | Brunei | |
| ๐จ๐ณ | China (excluding Guangdong province) | |
| ๐ณ๐ฟ | New Zealand | |
| ๐ฆ๐บ | Australia (Victoria state) | 7 days at place of residence |
| ๐จ๐ณ | China (Guangdong province) | |
| ๐ญ๐ฐ | Hong Kong SAR | |
| ๐ฒ๐ด | Macao SAR | |
| ๐น๐ผ | Taiwan | 14 days at place of residence |
| ๐ฎ๐ฑ | Israel | |
| ๐ | All other countries | 14 days in SDF* |
| *SDF= SHN Dedicated Facility | ||
Only travelers from Australia (excluding Victoria state), Brunei, China (excluding Guangdong province) and New Zealand are exempt from SHNs; all others must do a stint of 7-14 days. Singapore has yet to introduce any special concessions for fully-vaccinated travelers, although it’s surely only a matter of time.
The revised policy also applies to travelers currently in the midst of an SHN stint, who will be contacted separately regarding refunds. As a reminder, the cost of a 14-day SHN at a hotel is S$2,000 per adult (or S$1,300 per adult for twin sharing), excluding testing.
Speaking of testing, the regime is also being revised with additional ART self-administered tests on Days 3, 7 and 11 of their arrival. This will take effect for new arrivals from 27 June 2021, 2359 hours.
| ๐ฉบ Revised Testing Regime |
||
| Day | PCR Test | ART Test |
| 1 | โ | |
| 2 | ||
| 3 | โ | |
| 4 | ||
| 5 | ||
| 6 | ||
| 7 | โ | |
| 8 | ||
| 9 | ||
| 10 | ||
| 11 | โ | |
| 12 | ||
| 13 | ||
| 14 | โ | |
More staycation options soon?
Even if you’re not intending to travel out of Singapore, the revised SHN policy may impact your staycation plans. Back in May, I wrote about how numerous 5-Star hotels had converted into SHN-only facilities, due to the additional capacity required to accommodate 21-day stints.
With the SHN duration cut to 14 days, it stands to reason some of these hotels may reopen to the public soon. Here’s the latest snapshot of some popular hotels and the earliest they’re taking public bookings.
| Hotel | Location | Earliest Booking |
| Mandarin Orchard | Orchard | 25 Jun 2021 |
| Marriott Tang Plaza | Orchard | 1 Aug 2021 |
| SO/Sofitel | Raffles Place | 1 Aug 2021 |
| Park Hotel Farrer Park | Farrer Park | 1 Aug 2021 |
| Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore | Marina Bay | 2 Aug 2021 |
| Four Points by Sheraton Riverview | Havelock | 1 Sep 2021 |
| Grand Park City Hall | City Hall | 1 Sep 2021 |
| Grand Park Orchard | Somerset | 1 Sep 2021 |
| Park Hotel Alexandra | Alexandra | 1 Sep 2021 |
| Park Hotel Clarke Quay | Clarke Quay | 1 Sep 2021 |
| JW Marriott South Beach | City Hall | 4 Sep 2021 |
| Pan Pacific Singapore | Marina Bay | 5 Sep 2021 |
| Conrad Centennial Singapore | Marina Bay | 7 Sep 2021 |
| Dorsett Singapore | Tanjong Pagar | 7 Sep 2021 |
| Sheraton Towers Singapore | Newton | 15 Sep 2021 |
| Amara Singapore | Tanjong Pagar | 20 Sep 2021 |
| Westin Singapore | Raffles Place | 1 Dec 2021 |
| Crowne Plaza Changi | Changi Airport | 7 Jan 2022 |
Conclusion
14 days is still a heck of a long time to be cooped up in a hotel room, but it sure beats 21. I can imagine there’ll be quite a few people relieved to hear this news, although the true breakthrough will be when there’s reduced requirements for vaccinated individuals.
Hopefully, this will also see more hotels reopening for staycations, since overseas travel looks unlikely until Q4 at least.
I wonder why the government put Israel on that list. Is it possible for someone to come to Singapore from there without transiting at a high-risk country at all?
In theory you could do TLV-HKG-SIN
With Israel about to announce that vaccinated tourists are welcome again from July 1st – that sounds like the first hotel quarantine free leisure travel option in 14 months (at least for our boomers):
https://www.aviationpros.com/aviation-security/news/21227502/israel-to-ease-restrictions-on-foreign-tourists-next-week
TBH SHN is a bad name which makes innocent ppl think those arrivals can actually stay at home.
it stands for Stay Hotel Notice.
Understand from my girlfriend HR long term pass holders will not need to apply for permission to come back from end June/early Jul so govt will prob keep the extra hotel capaciy for that.