Singapore, Malaysia to open land border to vaccinated travelers

Singapore and Malaysia will launch a quarantine-free travel lane next week at their land border crossing for people vaccinated against COVID-19,  according to the two countries on Wednesday.

The office of Singapore’s prime minister said in a statement that, “The land travel lane in the first phase will apply to citizens, permanent residents or long-term pass holders of the country that are entering, to allow people to visit families on the other side of the border.

“The lane will be progressively expanded.”

Malaysia announced the creation of the land border travel lane separately.

Singapore with a population of 5.45 million, relies heavily on Malaysians living in the southern state of Johor to staff businesses ranging from restaurants to semiconductor manufacturing.

Many Malaysians used to commute daily from across the border prior to the pandemic.

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Rachael/Reuters