Incoming travellers serving stay-home notice outside of designated facilities to wear electronic monitoring device

From next Tuesday (Aug 11), all incoming travellers to Singapore who are serving their stay-home notice (SHN) outside of designated facilities will have to wear an electronic monitoring device throughout the 14-day period.

This applies to Singapore citizens, permanent residents, long-term pass holders, work pass holders and their dependants. Children aged 12 years and below are exempted.

The additional measure hopes to reduce the transmission risk of COVID-19 by incoming travellers to the community, said the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority in a joint press release with the Ministry of Manpower and the Ministry of Education.

“On arrival in Singapore, travellers serving their SHN at their place of residence will be issued with an electronic monitoring device at the checkpoints, after immigration clearance. They will need to activate the electronic monitoring device upon reaching their place of residence,” said the authorities.

If the device is not activated, the authorities will follow up to determine their location and help to resolve any technical difficulties or take enforcement action, if necessary.

Affected travellers will need to wear the device, which uses GPS and 4G/Bluetooth signals to determine if the user is within the range of their place of residence, throughout the 14-day period.

They may also receive notifications on these devices, which must be acknowledged in a timely manner.

“Any attempt to leave the place of residence or tamper with the electronic device will trigger an alert to the authorities, who will conduct follow-up investigations, except when the person is leaving his/her place of residence for his/her appointment for the COVID-19 test,” added the authorities.

Those who are caught tampering with the device during the SHN period can be fined up to $10,000 or jailed up to six months.

Since Mar 21, all incoming travellers have been serving a 14-day SHN at their place of residence or at designated facilities. They are also tested for COVID-19 at designated community testing facilities before the end of their SHN period.