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HONG KONG / SINGAPORE, Nov. 21 (Bloomberg): Hong Kong and Singapore postponed the world’s first non-quarantine travel bubble for two weeks after a wave of new coronavirus infections in Hong Kong, a setback for their flagship airlines and businesses. tourists looking to start. a recovery.
The inaugural flights, scheduled to depart on Sunday (Nov. 22), were delayed by governments due to increasing local infections in Hong Kong, Edward Yau, the city’s secretary of commerce and economic development, said on Saturday.
Singapore’s Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said on his Facebook page that he spoke with Yau on Saturday and they decided to postpone the plan.
Under the current agreement between the two financial centers, the agreement is suspended for two weeks if the seven-day moving average of unrelated cases rises to five in either city. The average rose to 3.9 on Saturday from 2.1 a day earlier.
Details of the formal reintroduction of the plan will be announced early next month, Yau said.
Hong Kong reported 43 new virus cases on Saturday, the highest in three months.
The figure included 13 locally transmitted infections whose source was impossible to trace, suggesting that there may be super-spreaders in the city.
Earlier, the Singapore Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement on Saturday that the travel bubble plan would go as planned.
Hong Kong has a “comprehensive public health surveillance system” and the overall incidence rate remains low, the aviation authority said.
The travel bubble, which allows a limited number of passengers to fly both ways without going through quarantine, will be reviewed in early December, Commerce and Economic Development Secretary Edward Yau told the media.
“In light of the recent increase in local cases, we have decided together with the Singapore government that we will postpone the launch of the shuttle bubble for two weeks,” he said. “Today’s decision is a responsible decision.”
The suspension also comes as Hong Kong reported 43 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, the highest daily figure in nearly three months. He also faces more than 60 preliminary cases. – Bloomberg
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