Health Officials Lift Quarantine Restrictions
Macau health officials have relaxed entry for travelers coming from nearby areas such as Guangdong Province. From Saturday, July 10, visitors can from can gain entrance into the region. Visitors need to show border officers a negative COVID-19 test certificate valid in the last seven days. In addition, negative results should be received in the last 2 days.
“The risk of the COVID-19 situation in Guangdong has subsided,” said Tai Wa Hou of the Macau Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center.
The seven-day negative test certificate is applicable to all travelers irrespective of vaccination state. “Not all age groups of travellers are suited for vaccination,” Tai added.
Residents in Southeast China are encouraged to visit Macau. Health officials have relaxed the mandatory 14 days quarantine requirement.
Macau has recorded under 10 cases of COVID-19 this year. The region has reported just 55 cases and no deaths since the start of the pandemic.
China Is Major Market For Macau
Before the pandemic, mainland China served as a major market for Macau. It accounted for more than 71 percent of visitors into Macau. Of the entire number of visitors from China, people from Guangdong accounted for close to 50 percent of the total number.
In addition, Macau has had very few coronavirus incidents in the past few months. The region has been covid-19 free since June, thus making it ease for Guangdongers to gain entry.
Just like Guangdong, Hong Kong is also a key market for Macau. In 2019, Hong Kong accounted for more than 7 million visitors into Macau.
Macau and Hong Kong officials are working to create a plan that will enable quarantine-free cross-border travel between both regions. The plan will see vaccinated travelers move within both regions without any restriction or medical supervision as long as they have a negative covid-19 test in the last 48 hours.
In other news, Macau’s casino industry is still in recovery mode. Experts predict that full recovery will come by 2023.
