Travelers between Hong Kong and Singapore will not be able to take their trips quarantine-free until at least 2021, given a fresh COVID-19 outbreak across the Chinese city, authorities say.

Hong Kong would “review the arrangement for 2021 towards late December,” the government said on Tuesday in postponing the launch of a much-awaited air travel bubble that would do away with the need for 14 days in isolation.

With the latest announcement, the government gave a more concrete idea of the length of the postponement, after suspending the air travel bubble scheme just a day before it was due to start on Nov. 22.

“Subsequent to the deferral announcement on Nov. 21, the two governments have been closely monitoring the epidemic situation in both places,” Hong Kong’s Commerce and Economic Development Bureau said.

“The decision on a further deferral of the launch date of the ATB was taken in view of the severity of the epidemic situation in Hong Kong with the number of local cases of unknown sources increasing rapidly.”

Travelers who had made bookings for December were advised to contact their airlines and adjust their itineraries accordingly.

The scuppered two-way travel bubble was once considered a pioneering project amid the year-long global COVID-19 pandemic, which has essentially sledgehammered the aviation industry.

Hong Kong saw 82 new cases on Tuesday, comprising 32 males and 50 females aged between eight months and 83 years old. The COVID-19 tally stood at 6,397 cases, with 14 in critical condition in hospital, while 109 had died. A histopathologist at Queen Elizabeth Hospital was one of the cases confirmed on Tuesday.

On Monday, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced, without giving details, plans to significantly increase the fine for breaching epidemic prevention regulations. The penalty is expected to rise from the current HK$2,000 (US$258) to a maximum of HK$10,000.

Apple Daily has also learned that local health authorities will further tighten prevention measures, including by reducing the number of wedding participants from 50 to 20 and cancelling promotions of local tours.

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