Issuing of Zhuhai residents’ travel permits to resume same day
Addressing yesterday’s press conference about Macau’s novel coronavirus situation, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U announced that the central government will lift its 14-day quarantine requirement for all arrivals from Macau from tomorrow – meaning that they can enter all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in the mainland without having to undergo quarantine from tomorrow.
Ao Ieong also announced that from tomorrow the mainland authorities will resume the issuing of Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) and package tour permits for Zhuhai residents – those holding a Zhuhai ID card or residence permit – to travel to Macau.
According to official statistics, Zhuhai has a population of about 1.7 million.
Ao Ieong said that as Macau has been spared a COVID-19 community transmission it is a novel coronavirus low-risk area. She noted that Guangdong has lifted its quarantine for arrivals from Macau and its ban on Macau vehicles with a Guangdong-Macau dual licence plate from entering the province, and the operation of Macau’s civil society has gradually returned to normality, while the city’s COVID-19 prevention work has now become “routine”.
The policy secretary said that consequently the Macau government has been constantly discussing with the central government the further restoration of travel between Macau and the mainland and the latter’s resumption of the issuing of mainlanders’ permits to travel to Macau on the mainland’s Individual Visit Scheme, before the State Council Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) notified the Macau government of the two new measures yesterday.
The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) also issued a statement about the central government’s mainland-wide lifting of its 14-day quarantine requirement for arrivals from Macau yesterday.
According to Ao Ieong, the lifting of the quarantine is applicable to all arrivals from Macau, except confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients, those who have been in close contact with confirmed COVID-19 patients, those with a fever or any respiratory symptoms, and those who have been to Hong Kong, Taiwan or a foreign country within the 14 days prior to their intended entry into the mainland.
According to Ao Ieong, all those entering the mainland from Macau must present a nucleic acid test (NAT) certificate confirming that they have tested negative for COVID-19 within the past seven days so that they will not need to undergo quarantine there.
Foreigners excluded
Ao Ieong said that as the mainland authorities’ ban on foreign nationals from entering there still remains in force, tomorrow’s quarantine lifting for those entering the mainland from Macau is only applicable to those holding Home Return Permits, Chinese passports or other mainland travel documents, which means that foreign nationals holding a Macau ID card are not covered by the lifting of quarantine.
In addition to Macau residents and mainlanders, Hong Kong people and Taiwan people who live either in Macau or Guangdong and commute between the two regions are, however, covered by the quarantine lifting as they are not foreigners.
According to Ao Ieong, while those entering Guangdong from Macau can have their NAT certificate displayed on the Guangdong Health Code following a conversion from the Macau Health Code, those entering other provinces, autonomous regions or municipalities in the mainland by air will have to present a paper NAT certificate upon their arrival. Ao Ieong said that those who plan to travel to other provinces, regions or municipalities in the mainland can apply for a NAT certificate from the Health Bureau (SSM) with their air ticket.
Ao Ieong said that the mainland’s quarantine lifting for arrivals from Macau will be suspended if Macau’s COVID-19 epidemic rebounds – i.e. if Macau is classified by the mainland authorities as a COVID-19 medium-risk or high-risk area, meaning that the 14-day quarantine will be imposed on Macau arrivals entering the mainland again. The quarantine for Macau arrivals would only be lifted after Macau has become a COVID-19 low-risk area again.
Health Bureau Director Lei Chin Ion said that in the mainland, a particular area will be classified as a COVID-19 medium-risk area if a local COVID-19 case has been confirmed there, while the area will be classified as a COVID-19 high-risk area if more than 10 local COVID-19 cases have been confirmed there. Lei said that Macau will also adopt this mechanism, meaning that the 14-day quarantine will be imposed on Macau arrivals entering the mainland again if Macau has confirmed a local COVID-19 case.
Baby swallows swab tip
Meanwhile, the Health Bureau’s Control of Communicable Diseases and Surveillance of Diseases Department Coordinator Leong Iek Hou announced during yesterday’s press conference that the government has decided that those aged below 18 will now have their samples collected under its NAT scheme only via nasopharyngeal swabs, after a nine-month-old female baby swallowed the three-centimetre-long tip of the swab yesterday morning when she was having her sample collected for a COVID-19 test via an oropharyngeal swab at the NAT programme’s main testing station in the Taipa Ferry Terminal in Pac On.
According to a statement by the government’s Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre yesterday, the baby was taken to the emergency department of the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre for examination and treatment. The statement said that the baby was in good condition. However, the hospital was still arranging for a gastroscopy for the baby to identify the location of the swallowed tip when the statement was issued yesterday afternoon.
Leong also announced that from Thursday adults can choose to have their sample collected for a COVID-19 test via a nasopharyngeal or an oropharyngeal swab under the government’s NAT scheme.
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U addresses yesterday’s press conference about the city’s novel coronavirus (COVID-19) situation. Photo: GCS
