No quarantine on arrival in Hong Kong-Singapore travel bubble

Hong Kong and Singapore on Thursday decided to set up "travel bubble" to allow citizens to move freely in the two countries provided they test negative for coronavirus.

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The two government's touted it as "a model and a template". According to the travel bubble guidelines, citizens do not need to be quarantined for a period of time on arrival, with no transit passengers allowed onboard the travel bubble flights.

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The guideline states that those travelling between the two countries will need to have a negative coronavirus test result and travel on dedicated planes.

"This milestone arrangement will help revive cross-border air travel between the two aviation hubs, in a safe and progressive way," Hong Kong's government said. The two governments said the new travel bubble would be implemented within weeks which has been agreed upon "in principle".

Hong Kong currently has over 5,200 coronavirus infections and has been grappling with a third wave although daily cases in the country has fallen below 10. The death toll due to the virus in the country has reached 105.

Singapore had earlier announced essential business and official travel with South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia and China. Singapore also eased quarantine norms for Hong Kong travellers from 14 to seven days.

Singapore's economy has shrunk 7 per cent in July-September on a year-on-year basis due to the virus which was more than expected. In a bid to kickstart the tourism industry, the Singapore government had announced "cruises to nowhere" from November as travelers in Asia have been snapping up tickets on "flights to nowhere".

The coronavirus has killed more than a million people across the globe since it first emerged in China's Wuhan on December 31, 2019.