Singapore-Hong Kong travel bubble: late August review for quarantine-free coronavirus deal as city state grapples with outbreak
- Arrangement has been postponed twice as both sides have experienced outbreaks
- Hong Kong government earlier said a review would be conducted in July
“The condition for launching the air travel bubble cannot be met for the time being,” he said. “Both sides agreed that a review of the way forward can be conducted in late August, taking into account the effectiveness of the enhanced infection control measures implemented by Singapore and the global situation at that time,” he said.
The scheme was first slated for last November but was postponed after a surge in cases in Hong Kong. It was pushed back to May 26 and derailed again when Singapore suffered an outbreak.
Last month, the Hong Kong government said it would review plans in early July.
Under a mechanism agreed upon by both sides if the bubble scheme is launched, the arrangement will be suspended if the seven-day moving average of unlinked Covid-19 cases in either city exceeds five. The latest figure for Hong Kong stands at zero, and at 6.4 for Singapore.
Singapore will reimpose tightened Covid-19 restrictions from Thursday following a new cluster of cases centred on karaoke bar customers and fishmongers.
The country’s renewed restrictions are similar to measures imposed from May 16 to June 13 in response to an earlier surge in cases linked to a cluster at Changi Airport.
