Hong Kong-Singapore Air Travel Bubble to be Reviewed in Early July (Again)

By
Shawn Ambrose
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Okay, okay, I know you’re sick of reading about this particular topic. But here at Goody Feed, where all our writers have purchased around four useless air tickets each to and from Hong Kong, we’re sick of writing about it as well.

For those who have avoided all news websites since they announced the closure of all bubble tea stores last year, here’s what happened:

On 11 Nov 2020, Singapore and Hong Kong announced they were forming the world’s first air travel bubble.

Singaporeans and Hongkongers rejoiced, as they could finally travel for the first time in nearly a year.

That joy was quickly snatched away while some were still looking for the cheapest air tickets as the bubble was postponed due to a rise in COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong.

So we once again put away our dusty passports and resumed crying ourselves to sleep every night.

Then, in April this year, it was announced that the bubble would finally commence on 26 May,2021.

Shortly after, Singapore experienced a huge spike in community cases and we had to call the bubble off again.

Now that our cases have dwindled once again, guess what the latest news is?

Hong Kong-Singapore Air Travel Bubble to be Reviewed in Early July

That’s right, both countries have agreed to review their long-awaited air travel bubble in early July this year.

Singapore and Hong Kong will review their public health situation then before deciding whether to launch the twice-postponed travel bubble.

Of course, talks only began after Singapore’s recent community outbreak showed signs of abating.

As the health ministry noted, since the bubble was last postponed, the number of community cases and local unlinked COVID-19 cases have exhibited a downward trend.

“Hong Kong’s Covid-19 situation continues to remain stable, with very few community cases over the past few weeks,” it said.

The ministry added that both sides remain “strongly committed” to launch the air travel bubble.

Conditions For Air Travel Bubble to Launch

In order for the air travel bubble to go ahead, a few conditions must be satisfied:

  1. There must be three consecutive days when the daily number of unlinked cases in both cities does not exceed three
  2. The seven-day moving average of unlinked infections should not exceed five cases in both cities on the last of these three consecutive days

If it does exceed five, the bubble will be suspended for 14 days.

For the bubble to resume after the suspension, the seven-day moving average in both countries must not exceed five on the last day of the 14-day suspension or any subsequent day.

At the moment, Singapore’s moving average is 11.9.

With the number of community cases going down, maybe this time the travel bubble really will go ahead as planned?

Coronavirus: You really don’t know me at all, do you?

Featured Image: ESB Professional/Shutterstock.com

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Shawn Ambrose
Email: [email protected]