Singapore is unlikely to meet the resumption criteria to restart the Hong Kong-Singapore Air Travel Bubble (ATB).
The ATB was initially slated for May 26, and would have allowed quarantine free travel between the two cities.
This was revealed by Singapore Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung at a press conference of the country’s multi ministry task force, which tightened Singapore’s community measures in response to the spike in locally transmitted cases.
See more: Singapore tightens community measures further as Covid cases spike, WFH to be default
Ong said that the two sides are “committed to” the ATB, "but at the same time we have to start it safely.”
He added, “We must respect the resumption mechanism that both sides have agreed on. So, the assessment is given the rising cases in Singapore. It is very likely that Singapore will not be able to meet the resumption criteria.”
The bubble was announced last month, but had a condition that it may not start if the threshold of a seven-day moving average of five or fewer unlinked community cases in either city is breached.
Ong said that MOT will critically review the numbers over the next few days, and said a decision on the start date of the ATB will be made next week.