Hong Kong’s zero approach to Covid-19 meant a travel bubble with Singapore was always going to be challenging. With the island nation having joined a growing number of governments treating the virus as an endemic disease and deciding to transition towards living with it, plans for quarantine-free movement of people between the cities inevitably had to be scrapped. The mainland shares our vision for how best to deal with the pandemic and as that is where our best hope of economic recovery lies, that is what we have to focus on. But while that means the immediate priority should be to set sights on the neighbouring Greater Bay Area , authorities should not forget that being an important financial and business centre necessitates having open borders. The change of tack was precipitated by Singapore’s announcing last week that people from Hong Kong and Macau would be added to a months-old travel scheme that already involves mainland China, Taiwan and New Zealand. From next Thursday, travellers from the cities will be able to visit without the need for quarantining; they only have to test negative for the virus on arrival and do not have to be vaccinated. But the decision was unilateral and therefore means that on return, with the city state designated medium-risk for the disease, a mandatory 14 days of isolation in a designated hotel will still be necessary. That is little incentive for those wanting to do business or have a holiday. Singapore’s strategy centres on full vaccination rates reaching 80 per cent of the population, a target it is already close to attaining. But the percentage for Hong Kong is barely 41 per cent, far below the figure necessary to attain herd immunity. The more highly infectious Delta variant, causing fresh Covid-19 waves around the world even among immunised populations, adds to the threat. Without higher inoculation, it is to be expected that authorities would want to take a more cautious approach and maintain a zero-infection policy. But with Hong Kong having had only a few local infections in recent months, neighbouring Shenzhen last week decided to partially relax its quarantine rules. Singapore trades Covid-Zero for ‘Covid Resilience’. How will it work? Instead of isolation in a hotel for 14 days, the time has been halved and the remainder can be spent at a place considered suitable by officials. It is an incremental step, but evidence that efforts are moving in the right direction. Resuming normal travel with the mainland requires cross-boundary officials being confident in Hong Kong’s Covid-19 prevention strategies. There are still loopholes, as imported cases related to airport arrivals show. With resolve, we will be able to travel to the GBA without restrictions. But we also cannot afford to allow Hong Kong to lose its status as a regional centre of finance and business. Vaccination that attains herd immunity is the key.