Singapore and Indonesia have agreed to reopen borders between the two countries for essential business and official travel after months of closure (Photo: AFP/VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Singapore and Indonesia have agreed to reopen borders between the two countries for essential business and official travel after months of closure to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Those who meet the requirements for the arrangement will be subject to pre- and post-travel swab tests, the foreign ministries of the countries said in a joint statement on October 12.
Indonesia has recorded over 333,000 COVID-19 cases, the second highest rate in Southeast Asia just behind the Philippines, and its capital Jakarta has imposed stringent measures to contain the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Singapore confirmed a total of 57,876 infections and is seeing a handful of cases each day.
On October 11, authorities of Thailand’s northern border province of Tak issued a temporary ban on vehicles coming from Myanmar after three Myanmar drivers tested positive for COVID-19 at the Thai border.
The province’s deputy governor Suphaphimit Paorik said the locality will tighten up security at the main border trade gateway with Myanmar in Mae Sot district of Tak province.
Vehicles from Myanmar must load and unload goods only at designated areas. They are not allowed to enter the border town and must leave Thai soil within seven hours.
All Thai vehicles crossing the border to Myawaddy town of Myanmar must also return to Thailand within seven hours.
Thailand logged 3,636 COVID-19 cases, and a death toll of 59. Myanmar’s national count stood at 27,974, with 646 fatalities./.
