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SYDNEY: Australia is “working with Singapore” to create a travel bubble between the two nations as early as July, officials said on Sunday (March 14), in an effort to restart tourism and travel suspended by COVID-19.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Australia effectively closed its international border to curb the spread of the coronavirus, and non-citizens were prohibited from visiting except in special circumstances.
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said Australia was “working with Singapore at this point potentially for a bubble (starting) in July.”
“As the vaccine is released, not just in Australia but in other countries, we will reopen more bubbles,” he told public broadcaster ABC.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the agreement would allow Singaporeans and Australians who had been vaccinated to travel between countries without being quarantined.
The newspaper said Canberra also hopes that people from third countries, such as international students, business travelers and returning citizens, will be able to complete two weeks of quarantine in Singapore before flying to Australia.
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Singapore has already opened its border to a handful of countries that have controlled the virus, including Australia, and officials have said the country would like to establish reciprocal travel corridors.
“If only others start doing it, then we will have a bubble, you have reciprocity, you can start traveling. And I hope that sometime this year we can do it,” Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said in an interview with Money FM 89.3 on Friday.
Australia’s 14-day hotel quarantine requirement for arrivals has left tens of thousands of Australians stranded abroad, and limits have been introduced for returnees as the limited system has been unable to cope with large numbers.
International tourism, worth around A $ 45 billion (S $ 46.8 billion) a year to the country’s pre-pandemic economy, has evaporated.
Australia already has a one-way “travel bubble” with New Zealand, allowing Kiwis to visit without quarantining, although the scheme has been suspended multiple times in response to virus outbreaks.
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