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SINGAPORE – Singapore continues to seek new regions to establish travel bubbles, even as the launch of the first such deal with Hong Kong remains on hold, Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said on Sunday (December 6).
Countries that the Republic has unilaterally opened its borders to become natural partners for potential air travel bubbles, Ong told reporters on the sidelines of a community event.
Short-term visitors from Australia, Brunei, China, New Zealand, and Vietnam can currently enter Singapore and travel freely as these countries are considered to have comprehensive public health surveillance systems and successfully controlled the spread of the Covid virus. 19.
Travelers from these countries do not need to provide a stay-at-home notice, but must apply for an Air Travel Pass, test negative on arrival, and download and use the TraceTogether app while here.
“We hope they are reciprocal. You can see the figures from Singapore; we are really handling the virus quite well for now … Hopefully, I think that sometime next year different partners will be willing to open travel bubbles,” he said Ong. said.
“We can’t close forever. Everyone knows that.”
The start date of the Singapore-Hong Kong travel bubble, initially set for November 22, will be revised between Christmas and New Years, he said.
“Looking at it between my counterpart and I, we decided there is no point in trying to give any hope that it can start in the middle of the month,” Ong said.
Singapore’s Civil Aviation Authority said last week that both cities had decided to postpone the start date to next year amid a recent spike in Covid-19 cases in Hong Kong. It had previously been agreed that the settlement would be suspended if the seven-day moving average for unrelated cases exceeds five in either city.
Hong Kong reported 101 new cases on Saturday (December 5) as the city faces a new wave of infections and tougher measures to curb their spread.
“I think it’s the right thing to do because you can see right now that cases are at this level, they are not increasing much, which we are happy to see, but at the same time it remains at a certain level,” he added. Mr Ong said.
“As for other partners, we are constantly looking.”
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