Coronavirus: Australia aiming to create travel bubble with Singapore by July

The deal would allow Singaporeans and Australians who had been vaccinated to travel between the countries without quarantining
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he hoped Singapore would start reopening its borders by the end of the year

Coronavirus pandemic

Agencies

Published: 9:31am, 14 Mar 2021

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Australia is “working with Singapore” to create a travel bubble between the two nations as early as July, officials said on Sunday, in an effort to restart tourism and travel put on hold by Covid-19.

Early in the pandemic Australia effectively closed its international border to slow the spread of the coronavirus, with non-citizens banned from visiting except in special circumstances.

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said Australia was “working with Singapore at the moment potentially for a bubble (beginning) in July”.

“As the vaccine rolls out, not only in Australia but in other countries, we will reopen more bubbles,” he told public broadcaster ABC.

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The Sydney Morning Herald reported the deal would allow Singaporeans and Australians who had been vaccinated to travel between the countries without quarantining.

The newspaper said Canberra is also hoping that people from third countries – such as international students, business travellers and returning citizens – could complete two weeks’ quarantine in Singapore before flying to Australia.

But Singapore, which has already opened its border to a handful of countries that have controlled the virus, including Australia, said it was “not in discussion on the concept of a quarantine centre or vaccination hub”.

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“Singapore is currently in discussions with Australia on the mutual recognition of vaccination certificates and resumption of travel with priority for students and business travellers,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Sunday.

“We are also discussing the possibility of an air travel bubble which will allow residents of Singapore and Australia to travel between both countries without the need for quarantine.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a BBC interview he hoped Singapore would start reopening its borders by the end of the year.

“I hope if that many countries can have substantial proportions of their populations vaccinated by later this year, we will be able to have the confidence and to have developed the systems to open up our international borders to travel safely again,” Lee said.

“Hopefully by the end of this year or next year, the doors can start to open, if not earlier.”

Canberra’s 14-day hotel quarantine requirement for arrivals has left tens of thousands of Australians stranded overseas, with caps on returnees introduced as the limited system has been unable to cope with large numbers.

International tourism – worth about A$45 billion (US$35 billion) a year to the country’s economy before the pandemic hit – has evaporated.

Australia already has a one-way “travel bubble” with New Zealand, allowing Kiwis to visit without quarantining, though the scheme has been suspended a number of times in response to virus outbreaks.

Sydney confirms first local case in over 50 days

A Sydney hotel quarantine worker tested positive for Covid-19, ending the Australian city’s run of more than 50 days without a case of local virus transmission.

The person worked at two Sydney hotels, which provide quarantine for returned travellers, New South Wales Health said in a statement. The state’s director of population health, Stephen Conaty, said the authorities are testing close contacts of the unnamed worker.

Queensland state, which on Saturday reported Australia’s first local infection in two weeks, said on Sunday it has detected no cases in the past 24 hours.

Saturday’s case is a doctor who tested positive after she had treated two patients with the UK variant of the virus. Unsure of the size of the outbreak, Queensland closed hospitals and aged care facilities to visitors for three days.

The federal government said on Sunday it will increase spending on rolling out the national Covid-19 vaccinations by A$1.1 billion (US$850 million).

Japan mulls end to Tokyo area emergency

Fewer hospitalisation in the Tokyo region has allowed the Japanese government to plan to lift the virus emergency in the capital area by the planned date of March 21, rather than extending it, the Sankei newspaper reported. The decision would come even as infection rates have stopped falling after a period of rapid improvement.

Sankei cited a cabinet minister as saying the emergency may have lost its effectiveness in improving the situation.

Officials are expected to make a decision as soon as Thursday, the paper said.

South Korea to open vaccinations to general public in April

South Korea will begin administering Covid-19 vaccines to the general public next month, with residents aged 65 and older given priority.

“The government is striving to proceed with the inoculation program even faster as we believe the key to restoring regular daily life depends on how promptly vaccinations go,” Minister of the Interior and Safety Jeon Hae-cheol said during a government meeting on the Covid-19 response.

Health authorities will announce detailed plans of the expanded vaccination program for the second quarter on Monday.

The country began its inoculation program last month ― AstraZeneca vaccines began to be administered to workers and patients under the age of 65 at geriatric hospitals and nursing homes on February 26. Pfizer vaccines began to be administered the following day to medical and other workers at hospitals designated to treat virus patients.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, 587,884 people had been inoculated as of Saturday.

Reporting by AFP, Bloomberg, Reuters, Yonhap