TR S$186 charge for COVID testing to enter mainland China

[Melburnian1]

I received this email from Scoot (TR) claiming that I have a booking from Singapore to Shanghai. I don't, but of interest are the requirements to enter mainland China from Friday 28 August 2020. Note the cost! This destination is no longer on my lesiure travel list (luckily I've been there a few times). Whether this will cause a downturn in tourism (not possible to visit though from Oz at present) remains to be seen:

Totally impractical for business travellers who move around, and changing flights at Changi to this one is obviously out of the question! The 48 hour turnaround for the test is a major constraint.

Impractical or annoying for many tourists as well. The cost for two travellers is significant: for a family of two adults and three children, it's very high at not far south of A$1000.
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Dear xx_X

Kindly note that there are new requirements for all travellers entering Mainland China. With effect from 28 Aug 2020, 0000hrs, the People’s Republic of China requires all passengers departing from Singapore for China to take a nucleic acid test (NAT) for COVID-19 within 5 days before boarding. More information can be found here.

For passengers booked on TRxx_ from Singapore to Guangzhou, departing on XX Aug 2020, xx_Xhrs, the following testing arrangements have been made by the relevant authorities and must be strictly adhered to.

1. The NAT for passengers on this flight must be done tomorrow, 26 Aug 2020, 0900hrs – 1030hrs at the Regional Screening Centre (RSC) located at the former Shuqun Secondary School (450 Jurong East Street 21, Singapore 609604). Kindly adhere to the timing to prevent overcrowding at the RSC.
   
   
2. Passengers must bring their passport and a copy of their flight itinerary or confirmed booking for TRxx_ on XX Aug 2020 for the NAT to be done. Passengers without the necessary documents will not be able to take the NAT. Passengers must also have a valid email address before arriving at the RSC and will have to provide the email address at registration. The test result will be sent to the email address provided.
   
   
3. Passengers who already have scheduled NATs or are being scheduled for NATs before the flight should proceed with their scheduled NAT. Only passengers without an existing NAT appointment should proceed to the RSC.
   
   
4. Passengers who are unwell or show symptoms such as fever, running nose, sore throat should not go for the NAT. Instead, they should seek care from a doctor.
   
   
5. The NAT will cost SGD 186 for each passenger. After taking the NAT, passengers will receive an email on payment instructions. Passengers must make payment before the NAT results will be released to them.
   
   
6. Take note that as the NAT results will require a turnaround time of 48 hours, passengers must adhere to the time slot of 26 Aug 2020, 0900 to 1030hrs for the NAT to be able to receive the results in time for the flight on 30 Aug 2020.
   
   
7. Please note that there could be circumstances whereby passengers might require a re-test which might affect their ability to board the flight.

Please ensure that you have the necessary documentation and are eligible to travel to and enter Guangzhou, as you will not be able to board the flight if you do not meet the eligibility and documentation requirements. Please accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused.

 

[dajop]

Totally impractical for business travellers who move around, and changing flights at Changi to this one is obviously out of the question! The 48 hour turnaround for the test is a major constraint.

Impractical or annoying for many tourists as well. The cost for two travellers is significant: for a family of two adults and three children, it's very high at not far south of A$1000.

It's a jump to assume this is about tourism! It's not. It's about business travel. Its not nearly as impractical as not allowing business travellers to arrive. At all! An also not nearly as impractical as 14 days quarantine.

I think the process is, for sponsored travellers, to test before arrival, test again after arrival in China, and if negative, then no need to do 14 days quarantine.

If Australia were to introduce something similar I'd happily pay for it when I return next, sure to be cheaper, and less of a PITA, than quarantine costs.

 

[moa999]

Can't see Australia doing similar. Way too much of a risk.
A decent percentage of returned travellers are testing negative at the first test, then positive on Day 12.

But until we get a vacccine, I expect this will become the norm for some countries.

 

[moa999]

Seemingly a bit of a stuffups by Scoot.
From Facebook.

Dear Scoot Community

Scoot would like to clarify that an email that was meant for passengers booked on TR100 from Singapore to Guangzhou, departing on 30 Aug 2020, 0515hrs, to inform them of new travel requirements for their flight, was mistakenly sent to other customers who were not on the flight. Scoot is currently investigating the matter and will provide an update on the findings when possible. For now, it has been established that there was no data breach or leak of personal information. Scoot sincerely apologises for this oversight and our highest priority is establishing what transpired and rectifying the errors.

Thank you for your kind understanding.

- The Scoot Team

Some people reporting multiple emails

 

[dajop]

Can't see Australia doing similar. Way too much of a risk.
A decent percentage of returned travellers are testing negative at the first test, then positive on Day 12.

China, are doing it for a select group of countries (at the moment, IIRC a group of one), and only for arrival in six provinces. At some point, someone has to risk manage this whole thing. At the moment, Australia has an extremely limited capacity for international arrivals. Surely by now they have an idea which countries are generating a whole stack of positive tests, and which countries are not, which can be used to drive decisions about appropriate levels of quarantine.

Singapore is now risk managing the cough out the virus, using their data to change rules - such that from Sep 1, arrivals from NZ, if tested negative on arrival are being let loose in the community. Also arrivals from Australia (except those who've been in Victoria in the previous 14 days) , are only requiring 7 days isolation at home (or in hotel of choosing), with testing on day 7 before being freed. I am sure the decision to do this has been data driven.

 

[OZDUCK]

Seemingly a bit of a stuffups by Scoot.
From Facebook.



Some people reporting multiple emails

I received three of them.

 

[seanpodge]

Since Mainland China aren't issuing tourist visas to anyone at the moment, I don't think that is much of an issue to them.

Given the process that non-PRC citizens need to go through to get the permission to enter China at the moment, paying and getting a test before departure is likely to be low on the list of problems. Forget business travellers, even those with valid residence permits have had trouble getting back to their homes. Aunt Bev and the girls from the bowls club wanting to drink tea with pandas on the Great Wall aren't really occupying the minds of the government.

Whether for better or worse, since the lockdown of Wuhan, the government has clearly decided that the correct number of COVID cases is zero. Realistically, absent the rest of the world, espically the US, getting its act together, we better hope for a vaccine that works.