Ahead of Hong Kong travel bubble launch, Singapore ramps up testing, tightens entry rules for travellers

Name: Hong Kong, Singapore announce plans for quarantine-free travel bubble
Uploaded: 2020-11-10T12:17:21.000Z
Duration: 1 min 43 s
Description: Hong Kong, Singapore announce plans for quarantine-free travel bubble

Travellers who aren’t citizens or permanent residents will need a negative Covid-19 test from November 18, but Hong Kong is among nine places exempt

Travellers from Hong Kong will continue to serve seven-day stay home notice in their place of residence – unless they are under the travel bubble

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A Singapore Airlines plane on the tarmac at Changi International Airport. Photo: AFP

Dewey Sim

Published: 8:17pm, 10 Nov 2020Updated: 10:01pm, 10 Nov 2020

Singapore authorities will tighten entry requirements for most travellers from next Tuesday, even as it prepares to launch quarantine-free travel with Hong Kong, with an announcement on the start date of the travel bubble expected on Wednesday.

In a press statement on Tuesday, Singapore’s multi-ministry task force to manage the Covid-19 pandemic said travellers entering Singapore who were not citizens or permanent residents from 11.59pm on November 17 must show a negative coronavirus test taken 72 hours before their flight to the city state.

Only nine “lower-risk” countries and regions are exempted – Hong Kong, mainland China, Brunei, New Zealand, Vietnam, Australia, Macau, Taiwan, and Malaysia excluding Sabah.

It also noted that travellers from Hong Kong would continue to serve the seven-day stay home notice in their place of residence if they were “not under the approved Singapore-Hong Kong Air Travel Bubble”.

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Hong Kong, Singapore announce plans for quarantine-free travel bubble

Both governments had, in announcing plans to open their borders to each other for leisure travel after more than eight months, said there would be designated travel bubble flights. These would only be for travellers who had been in either city for at least 14 days before departure and not transit passengers. Travellers would need to take mutually-recognised Covid-19 tests.