Amongst the massively brilliant update in travel news yesterday, here's one that's unfortunately not-so-positive. We have to break it to you, but the Singapore-Hong Kong travel bubble has officially been scrapped. The two countries will no longer launch the long-delayed plan for quarantine-free travel between the two cities, announced Transport Minister S. Iswaran on August 19.
This decision was made due to the different Covid-19 strategies of the two nations. While Singapore is aiming to become a Covid-19 resilient nation, Hong Kong is sticking with its 'zero infections' target. However, Mr Iswaran said Singapore and Hong Kong remain committed to facilitating travel between each other, especially since both cities are financial and aviation hubs with close ties.
From today, Hong Kong will be tightening its border control measures. It will require vaccinated travellers from Singapore and other places that are deemed to be of medium-risk of infection to serve a 14-day quarantine instead of seven days. Meanwhile, Singapore just announced yesterday (August 19) that visitors from Hong Kong and Macau will have eased restrictions from August 21. They will be able to enter the country with just one on-arrival Covid-19 swab test and be allowed to go about their activities if they test negative.
Yeah, it's been a wild ride. If you need a refresher of the timelines, we've got you. The Hong Kong-Singapore travel scheme was initially slated to launch last November but was postponed to May after a surge of cases in Hong Kong. The bubble burst again and the plan was derailed when the number of coronavirus cases began to rise in Singapore in May. There was also yet another spike in Singapore's cases in June, which led to Singapore tightening its measures.
We're gutted that we won't be able to visit our colleagues in Hong Kong for a while more. But for now, at least we get to look forward to quarantine-free travel in Germany and Brunei.
You can also live vicariously through eight Singaporean and eight Hong Kong poets via the HK-SG Digital Travel Bubble initiative by Sing Lit Station and The Substation.
Read more:
Singapore to pilot quarantine-free travel lanes with Germany and Brunei
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Fully vaccinated travellers from eight countries allowed to serve stay-home notice at home from August 20