Coronavirus: Singapore’s Scoot stops flights to Hong Kong for two weeks; Malaysia mulls reopening in second quarter
- Scoot has stopped accepting bookings to Hong Kong until March 7, signalling it is the latest airline to be banned from flying to the city for two weeks
- Elsewhere, Malaysia mulls reopening in the second quarter, a Japanese poll finds high dissatisfaction with the booster roll-out, while NZ aims to lift mandates after the Omicron peak passes
Bookings for flights from Singapore to Hong Kong were unavailable until March 7, Scoot’s website showed. Scoot was operating a daily service.
The ban comes after Hong Kong authorities blocked Singapore Airlines from flying to the city for two weeks from February 16 after too many passengers tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival.
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Hong Kong has become increasingly cut off from the world as it tries to gain control of its worst Covid-19 outbreak since the pandemic started.
Representatives for Scoot and the Hong Kong government didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Cathay operated one flight to and from Singapore in February and has just one next month, on March 19, its website showed. That’s in stark contrast to the 252 monthly flights scheduled pre-pandemic, according to previously published timetables.
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Malaysia mulls second-quarter reopening
While the second quarter is a realistic target, the matter needs prior discussion at several levels and it is for the prime minister to announce the actual date, the report said.
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The guidelines would need to be presented to the Covid-19 management committee, chaired by the premier, as well as the Covid-19 panel of ministers before being brought to the Cabinet, according to the report.
On February 8, a government advisory council proposed a reopening of borders as early as March 1, without the need for mandatory quarantine but with Covid testing pre-departure and upon arrival in Malaysia still required.
Majority of Japanese unhappy with progress of booster shots: survey
Anger over the Japanese government’s handling of the pandemic helped sink the administration of Kishida predecessor Yoshihide Suga, and Kishida faces a crucial election for the upper house of parliament in July.
As of Friday, only some 12 per cent of the population had received booster shots even though nearly 30 per cent of the country is 65 or older and at greater risk without the protection of the booster, even with Kishida repeatedly promising to accelerate the programme.
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Kishida told a news conference last week that he has yet to receive the booster, but should get one early in March.
Nearly half of respondents to the two-day telephone survey said it was “too early” to loosen border controls, which have among been the strictest among wealthy nations but were slammed by businesses and educators, a move set to take place in stages from March 1.
About 45.7 per cent said the decision, which will open borders to foreigners except for tourists, came too early, Kyodo said, while 34.9 per cent said it was “appropriate” and 16.3 per cent saw it as too late.
Overall, Kishida’s support rose slightly to 56.6 per cent although disapproval of his government edged up 2.2 points to 27.4 per cent.
New Zealand will lift mandates after Omicron peak passes: PM
Inspired by truckers’ demonstrations in Canada, thousands of protesters have blocked streets near the parliament in the capital Wellington for two weeks with trucks, cars and motorcycles, piling pressure on the government to scrap vaccine mandates.
Ardern refused to set a hard date, but said there would be a narrowing of vaccine requirements after Omicron reaches a peak, which is expected in mid to late March.
“We all want to go back to the way life was. And we will, I suspect sooner than you think,” Ardern said at a weekly news conference.
“But when that happens, it will be because easing restrictions won’t compromise the lives of thousands of people – not because you demanded it,” she said, addressing protesters.
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The demonstrations began as a stand against the vaccine mandates but have since spread to become a wider movement against Ardern and her government.
On Monday, eight people were arrested for disorderly behaviour and obstruction, with human waste thrown over some police officers.
New Zealand has reported about 16,000 cases of Covid-19 and 53 deaths since the pandemic began, relatively low by global standards, but an Omicron-fuelled outbreak has pushed the current seven-day average of new infections to more than 1,600 cases daily.
About 94 per cent of eligible people are vaccinated, with shots mandatory for some staff in front-line jobs.
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The parliament stand-off is testing Ardern, who garnered plaudits for keeping the country virtually virus-free over the last two years but is facing criticism for continuing strict restrictions and delaying border reopening plans.
“What we are seeing outside parliament, and the reaction to it, is the culmination of underlying issues that have been rumbling along in our communities for some time,” main opposition National Party leader Christopher Luxon said on Monday, calling for vaccine mandates to be phased out and borders reopened.
“It’s driven by Covid and vaccine mandates, yes, but the frustrations shared by many Kiwis are also driven by a Government that seems to be stalling,” he said.
Reporting by Reuters, Bloomberg
