“Air travel bubble with Hong Kong”.
Whisper these words into any Singaporean’s ear on the street and they’ll immediately fall to the floor, curl up in a fetal position, and start crying.
That’s because every time the Singapore and Hong Kong government announced a launch of the travel bubble, COVID-19 infections spike and the bubble has to be postponed.
The word is so jinxed that even Health Minister and Lost actor Ong Ye Kung proposed renaming it a “travel corridor”.
Well, whether it’s a bubble, corridor, passage, or sphere, it won’t be happening with Hong Kong anytime soon.
Hong Kong Reportedly Wanted to Give Up on SG-HK Travel Bubble After Knowing That S’pore is Treating COVID-19 as Endemic
Lawmakers in Hong Kong have urged the government to scrap plans for a travel bubble with Singapore, due to the latter’s plans to treat COVID-19 as an endemic.
Unlike Singapore, Hong Kong is still aiming to eradicate or completely banish COVID-19 from its shores, with a target of zero local infections.
One lawmaker, Michael Tien, said Hong Kong should not offer quarantine-free travel to people from countries that do not have the same “Covid zero” target.
“The mainland will not tolerate any loopholes at our airport. If Singapore really changes its anti-pandemic target, the government can stop talking to the country about setting up a travel bubble,” he said.
Damn. Now, that’s hurtful.
Alice Mak of the Federation of Trade Unions shared this sentiment, adding that while it would benefit the tourism industry, it would compromise Hong Kong’s efforts to quell COVID-19.
“For places that don’t aim to achieve zero infections but hope to live with the virus, we should not have a travel bubble with them,” she said.
In response to the pleas, Health Secretary Sophia Chan said the government will continue to communicate with their counterparts in Singapore.
Vaccination Progress in Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s vaccination rate is slower than Singapore’s, but it certainly isn’t sluggish.
As of 8 July, 2.51 million people in Hong Kong have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 1.7 million have gotten two doses.
This means that around 33% of the population have been at least partially vaccinated, while 22.6% have been fully inoculated.
In Singapore, 65% have received at least one dose, and 38% have been fully vaccinated.
Mr Ong, however, is still confident of opening a travel bubble with Hong Kong, as both countries have low case counts.
He’s a bit hesitant to call it a bubble, however.
“I try to not call it bubble as it connotes something very fragile and can easily burst – I try to describe it as air travel corridor now, but the idea is the same,” he said.
Don’t pack your bags or burn your passports just yet, because as long as COVID-19 is around, no one knows what the heck is going to happen.
Featured Image: ESB Professional/Shutterstock.com
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