MANDATING DIGITAL HEALTH CERTIFICATES FOR COVID-19 PRE-DEPARTURE TESTING
This circular informs all clinics licensed under the Private Hospitals and Medical Clinics Act (PHMCA) providing COVID-19 Pre-Departure Testing (PDT) on the latest requirements on the issuance of digital PDT certificates in line with the HealthCerts standards.
2. To facilitate a more seamless clearance for international travel, MOH is seeking to drive adoption of digital PDT certificates for travellers to authenticate their COVID19 test results. The Government Technology Agency (GovTech) has produced the HealthCerts schema for these purposes, which enables an interoperable, verifiable, and tamper-proof solution. These digital PDT certificates will smoothen and expedite check-in processing and customs clearance at foreign and local immigration checkpoints, especially as Singapore ramps up travel for both inbound and outbound travellers.
3. As such, from 10 Feb 2021, pursuant to Regulation 4 of the Private Hospitals and Medical Clinics (PHMC) Regulations, it is mandatory for all clinics in Singapore providing or intending to provide PDT services for outbound travellers to issue all PDT certificates in the digital format, following Singapore’s HealthCerts standards. The HealthCerts standards have been published on the SafeTravel Office website, at https://safetravel.ica.gov.sg/health/covid19-tests/pre-departure-test for ease of reference. To achieve this, clinics can either purchase the service of issuing such digital certificates directly from vendors (see Para 6 below), or partner with a licensed laboratory that has already procured the service.
4. Clinics with these HealthCert capabilities will issue the digital test certificate to individual travellers, who can then notarise it accordingly on the Notarise website for travel purposes. At the airport, the traveller will then present the notarised digital certificate, which can be verified by customs authorities.
5. Digital certificates will remain the default mode of issuance. Should travellers still require a hardcopy certificate, clinics may provide one to them upon request. Printed versions, if issued, should contain a corresponding QR code generated by the digital certificate service that links to the traveller’s digital PDT certificate.
6. Clinics or laboratories intending to procure this digital PDT issuance service can refer to the HealthCerts website, which recognises collaborating vendors who have sufficiently demonstrated capabilities to issue HealthCerts compliant to Singapore’s GovTech schema. The current list of vendors, along with their contact details, can be found at https://www.healthcerts.gov.sg/list-of-providers/ and clinics or laboratories can refer to this guide to engage vendors in discussion.
7. For travellers’ easy access to information on taking their PDTs, a list of HealthCerts-ready clinics will be compiled and made publicly available online at https://www.safetravel.affinidi.com/traveller.When clinics have successfully obtained the appropriate digital certificate capabilities, they will then be listed on the website. MOH will obtain a list of onboarded clinics from the appropriate vendors by mid-Feb 2021 for these purposes.
8. The costs of adopting the HealthCerts solution will be borne by individual clinics or laboratories they choose to partner with. Exact costs can be determined in discussion with their selected HealthCerts vendor. The service package should include the following aspects for HealthCerts: set-up, training, deployment, support and maintenance, and integration to your Clinic Management Systems.
9. For further clarifications on this circular, please email eLIS@moh.gov.sg
Thank you.
Best regards,
ADJ ASSOC PROF (DR) RAYMOND CHUA
GROUP DIRECTOR, HEALTH REGULATION GROUP
MINISTRY OF HEALTH
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