Sydney’s virus outbreak means plans for an Australian-Singapore travel bubble have been delayed until at least the end of the year, the Australian Trade Minister said Sunday.
While opening up the travel corridor remains a priority, the scale of the outbreak that has forced the country’s largest city into a renewed lockdown means plans are on hold, Dan Tehan told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“It has been put back due to the third wave of the virus,” he said. “The hope might be towards the end of the year that you could look at a travel bubble with Singapore.”
Following the initial discussions, the two countries haven’t committed to a specific date for the travel bubble so far.
While Australia was an early success story in the fight against the coronavirus, a sluggish vaccine rollout means even as the rest of the world opens up the country’s borders are expected to stay shut until mid-2022. Just 26% of the population have received their first jab, compared with 68.5% in the UK, according to Bloomberg’s Vaccine Tracker.
When borders do open, Tehan said he expects vaccine passports would be required for travel for years. “It could be like the little yellow booklet for yellow fever.”
Photo: Bloomberg
