Air travel bubble between Singapore and Hong Kong postponed

NewsColony
Air travel bubble between Singapore and Hong Kong postponed

a group of people walking on a city street: People wearing masks in Hong Kong (AP/Kin Cheung, File)

© Kin Cheung People wearing masks in Hong Kong (AP/Kin Cheung, File)

Singapore and Hong Kong have postponed a planned air travel bubble meant to boost tourism for both cities, amid a spike in coronavirus infections in Hong Kong.

The air travel bubble, originally slated to begin on Sunday, will be delayed by at least two weeks, Hong Kong’s minister of commerce and economic development, Edward Yau, said at a news conference.

The arrangement is meant to allow visitors between the two cities to travel without having to serve a quarantine as long as they complete coronavirus tests before and after arriving at their destinations, and fly on designated flights.

Hong Kong reported 43 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, including 13 untraceable local infections.

a large airplane flying through a cloudy blue sky: The air travel bubble is meant to allow visitors between the two cities to travel without having to serve a quarantine (John Walton/PA)

© Provided by PA Media The air travel bubble is meant to allow visitors between the two cities to travel without having to serve a quarantine (John Walton/PA)

Mr Yau said: “For any scheme to be successful, they must fulfil the condition of securing public health, and also making sure that both sides would be comfortable and feel safe about the scheme. In light of the situation in Hong Kong, I think it’s the responsible way to put this back for a while, and then sort of relaunch it at a suitable juncture.”

Under the initial agreement, the air travel bubble was to be suspended if the number of untraceable local infections in either Singapore or Hong Kong exceeds five on a seven-day moving average. The current average of unlinked cases in Hong Kong is nearly four.

Although the average of five had not been reached in Hong Kong, the bubble was suspended after Mr Yau and Singapore’s transport minister, Ong Ye Kung, held discussions on Saturday.

Prior to the postponement, Singapore said travellers arriving from Hong Kong via the bubble would be required to take a coronavirus test on arrival. Originally, only people landing in Hong Kong were to be required to be tested.

Mr Ong said in a Facebook post that the postponement is a “sober reminder that the Covid-19 virus is still with us”.

“I can fully understand the disappointment and frustration of travellers who have planned their trips. But we think it is better to defer from a public health standpoint,” Mr Ong wrote.

Source: MSN | World News

The post Air travel bubble between Singapore and Hong Kong postponed appeared first on NewsColony.
NewsColony

source https://newscolony.com/air-travel-bubble-between-singapore-and-hong-kong-postponed/

Comments

Volunteers book hotel room for homeless man with SingapoRediscovers vouchers

NewsColony Volunteers book hotel room for homeless man with SingapoRediscovers vouchers © The Independent Singapore Singapore — A group of volunteers from the Mummy Yummy Singapore welfare organisation donated their SingapoRediscovers Vouchers to book a hotel room for a homeless man. The man, who was identified as Jayden, did not have a place to live while waiting for the Housing Board (HDB) to allocate him a rental flat. In a Facebook post on Mummy Yummy Singapore’s page on Wednesday (Dec 16), the volunteers said: “We used our $100 Rediscover Singapore vouchers to redeem hotel stay for him and successfully booked 9 days worth of stay at 3 days per voucher.” They added that they were unable to book a longer stay because of higher hotel rates over Christmas and New Year. The volunteers hoped that they would be able to bridge Jayden’s stay until he got a flat. “Thanks our government for giving us these vouchers which in return we can put them to good use for people in need,” th...

Chinese stars moonlighting as live-streamers

NewsColony Chinese stars moonlighting as live-streamers Li JIaqi and Yang Mi joined forces to sell products online during coronavirus, blurring the boundaries between conventional celebrities and live streamers. Photo: @TrendingWeibo/Twitter The line between Chinese celebrities and live streamers continues to blur these days. Luxury brands are expanding their pool of friend-of-the-brand endorsements with top live streamers – Louis Vuitton, for example, tapped both actress Song Jia and “lipstick king” live streamer Li Jiaqi for its much anticipated 520 Chinese Valentine’s Day campaign. Celebrities, actors and singers are jumping on the bandwagon to test out their commercial values on e-commerce platforms, with Yang Mi, Li Xiaolu and Michelle Ye Xuan just a few of the screen stars moonlighting on live streaming portals including Taobao, TikTok and Red Book. So why are Chinese celebrities so eager to embrace the battlefield of live streaming e-commerce, and how are they getting on so...

Two hundred thousand Northern Beaches residents prepare for lockdown amid panic buying

NewsColony Two hundred thousand Northern Beaches residents prepare for lockdown amid panic buying Sydney’s Northern Beaches have entered lockdown as the coronavirus cluster in the area grows to 41 cases. From 5pm on Saturday until midnight on Wednesday, the local government area will revert to lockdown orders issued across the state in March. People will only be permitted to leave their homes for five basic reasons: to seek medical care, exercise, grocery shop, work or for compassionate care reasons. An additional 23 cases were recorded in the 24 hours to 8pm on Friday, including 10 already announced. People line up to shop at a Woolworths supermarket in Avalon (pictured) on Saturday before the Northern Beaches goes into a lockdown at 5pm until midnight Wednesday Two women (pictured) leave a Coles supermarket in Avalon before being required to follow stay-at-home guidelines The toilet paper section of the Woolworths at...

NewsColony

Search This Blog