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Hong Kong reported 43 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, the highest daily peak in more than three months. Among them, 36 were transmitted locally, including 13 that cannot be traced.
Non-quarantine travel would have been a big problem for both destinations, where strict arrival regulations have been in place for months. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, both governments closed borders and denied entry to most non-residents and short-term visitors. In Hong Kong, returning residents must undergo a 14-day quarantine and wear an electronic bracelet to track their location.
How the bubble was supposed to work
The bubble was scheduled to start Sunday with one flight per day to each city, with a quota of 200 travelers per flight, and then increased to two flights per day.
Travelers would have to meet certain parameters before embarking, such as not having traveled in the previous 14 days and undergoing mandatory Covid-19 tests. But they would not be subject to any quarantine requirements or stay-at-home notice, or a controlled itinerary, upon arrival.
However, the arrangement always included the warning that if the Covid-19 situation deteriorated in any of the cities, the plan would be suspended.
Singapore’s Civil Aviation Authority initially announced on Saturday morning that the travel bubble with Hong Kong would launch as scheduled. But later that day, the city-state Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung announced that there had been a change of plan.
“Given the evolving situation in Hong Kong, Secretary Edward Yau and I discussed further this afternoon and decided that it would be best to postpone the ATB launch for two weeks. We will review the new launch date in two weeks and update again.” Ong said.
Hong Kong has seen a sharp rise in coronavirus infections in recent days, after weeks of a consistently low number of cases.
The city’s Center for Health Protection “strongly urged” the public to avoid all non-essential travel outside of Hong Kong, and asked residents to avoid going out, dining and socializing.
“The scale of the increase is very alarming,” Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Communicable Diseases Division at the Hong Kong Health Protection Center, said on Saturday.
He warned that this new increase in cases will be “very difficult to control.”
CNN’s Jessie Yeung contributed to this article.
