Unvaccinated workers unable to return to workplace even with negative PET tests from Jan 15

Starting from Jan 15, unvaccinated workers will not be able to return to their workplace even if they test negative for COVID-19.

This is a change from an announcement made on Oct 23 by Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister of Trade and Industry, which stated that unvaccinated workers would have to produce a negative pre-event testing (PET) test 24 hours before entering their workplace.

Under this new rule, only fully vaccinated workers or workers who have recovered from COVID-19 in the last 270 days can return to work. 

This change was made to safeguard workplaces, now that the highly transmissible Omicron variant is beginning to appear locally. 

Partially vaccinated workers will have until Jan 31 to complete the vaccination process. Until then, they must produce negative (PET) tests in order to work. 

Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated workers will have to pay for their own PET tests from Jan 1 to Jan 15. However, the Ministry of Health (MOH) is opening a new round of applications for free antigen rapid tests (ART) kits, with the application window being from Jan 3 to Jan 31.

Firms with onsite workers that do not undergo routine rostered testing can apply for up to eight ART kits per employee.