People wearing face masks as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus,walk near the check in counters at Hong Kong International Airport on March 24, 2020. (ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP)

HONG KONG/SINGAPORE – The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Singapore agreed that discussions on their air travel bubble arrangement could resume in late August should the COVID-19 situation in the city-state improve.

In a statement on Tuesday, a HKSAR government spokesman said that the two sides were monitoring the pandemic situation, particularly in Singapore, to decide on the way forward for the travel arrangement.

Given the recent surge of confirmed cases in Singapore, the condition for launching the travel bubble "could not be met for the time being," a spokesman for the HKSAR government said

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Given the recent surge of confirmed cases in Singapore, the condition for launching the travel bubble "could not be met for the time being," the spokesman said.

The two sides agreed that a review could be conducted in late August, taking into account the effectiveness of the enhanced infection control measures implemented by Singapore as well as the global situation, according to the spokesman.

"Both parties will remain in close contact and monitor the public health situation in both places before taking stock in late August," Singapore's transport ministry said in a statement on the same day.

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