Singapore is gradually reopening to tourists after officials revealed that 80 percent of the country’s population has been immunized against COVID-19.

Singapore will be one of the first nations in the area to begin the phased reopening process, with vaccinated passengers from Germany and Brunei being permitted to enter without quarantine beginning next week.

While quarantine restrictions for approved passengers will be relaxed, masks are still necessary for practically all public places, group sizes are limited, and registration on a contact-tracing app is essential.

Singapore’s prime minister Lee Hsien Loong said, “We will move step by step – not in one big bang like some countries, but cautiously and progressively, feeling our way forward.”

The long reopening procedure is expected to postpone Singapore’s tourism industry’s recovery—the GDP shrank by a record 5.4 percent last year—but other nations with low infection rates will be waiting to see if coronavirus cases grow as a result of the flood of tourists.

Other Asia Pacific countries, such as New Zealand and Taiwan, have remained restricted to tourism despite early success against the virus, while countries with a high vaccination rate, such as Israel, have been compelled to reintroduce restrictions following an increase in cases due to the Delta form.

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