Singapore-Hong Kong travel bubble likely to be delayed beyond May 26 after spike in Covid-19 cases, minister says
- Singapore has already recorded 112 domestic infections this month, compared with 55 cases in April and just nine in March
- Hong Kong confirms one imported Covid-19 case on Friday, marking a seventh straight day without a local, untraceable infection
Hong Kong’s long-awaited travel bubble with Singapore is most likely to be postponed for a second time, with a top official warning of a “high chance” that the quarantine-free scheme will not be launched on May 26 as the city state battles a surge in coronavirus cases.
Edward Yau Tang-wah, Hong Kong’s secretary for commerce and economic development, on Friday said he had been in touch with his Singaporean counterpart for updates on the country’s Covid-19 situation.
Yau said he would talk to Singapore’s minister for transport, S. Iswaran, early next week for a final decision on whether to go ahead.
“The [outgoing] Singaporean minister told me that there might be a high chance the bubble arrangement may not be able to resume under the agreed mechanism on May 26,” he said, citing the need for “absolute precautions”.
On the Singaporean side, outgoing transport minister Ong Ye Kung noted that Hong Kong had become a safe destination in terms of the infection situation.