Coronavirus: Hong Kong-Singapore travel bubble ‘won’t burst’ despite mutated strain, on course for mid-May launch target
- Emergence of potentially more infectious coronavirus variant will not derail plans for restoring travel links between the two cities as soon as May, according to sources
- Hong Kong confirmed its first locally detected Covid-19 cases with the N501Y mutation over the weekend
The two cities are set to outline plans in the coming days for restoring travel links next month, sources familiar with the talks have revealed.
“We will not pull out of the plan,” a Hong Kong government insider said on Tuesday morning. “The Singapore government is very keen on materialising it as soon as possible.”
The development came as Singapore announced it would halve the isolation period required for travellers from Hong Kong to seven days starting from Thursday and they would also be allowed to stay at their place of residence instead of a dedicated government facility.
Hong Kong authorities also recently eased restrictions for Singaporeans, allowing those who were not vaccinated to quarantine for 14 days at a designated hotel followed by seven days of “self-monitoring”, compared to 21 days at a hotel previously.
The Hong Kong government classifies someone as fully vaccinated 14 days after receiving their final jab.
But Professor David Hui Shu-cheong, a Chinese University respiratory medicine expert and government adviser on the pandemic, called on both sides to first overcome the threat of coronavirus strains before relaunching travel.