Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng says that the Macau and Hong Kong governments are "exploring the possibility" of setting up a "travel bubble" arrangement between the two cities.
Ho made the remark during an informal press briefing on the sidelines of a public event yesterday.
Ho said that he had discussed the possible arrangement with his Hong Kong counterpart Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on the sidelines of last month's Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) conference in Hainan province.
However, Ho was quick to add that Hong Kong first needed have zero local COVID-19 cases for a period of at least 14 consecutive days before the two sides could discuss any further steps towards implementing the "travel bubble" arrangement.
Ho said that Macau would continue to pay close attention to the novel coronavirus situation in Hong Kong.
Ferry links between Hong Kong and Macau have been suspended since early last year and vehicular traffic between the two special administrative regions (SARs) continues to be strictly restricted.
As of yesterday, Hong Kong's tally of COVID-19 cases stood at 11,775 including 209 fatalities, according to worldometers.info. Hong Kong's population amounts to 7.5 million.
Hong Kong reported yesterday four new COVID-19 cases, two local and two imported, ADMediLink reported today.
Macau's COVID-19 tally stands at 49 with zero deaths.
Meanwhile, Ho also said that the local government was aiming to set up an arrangement whereby people from the mainland or Macau, 14 days after having been fully (twice) vaccinated against COVID-19, would be able to travel between the two places without being required to present a nucleic acid test (NAT) certificate to prove that they are free from COVID-19 infection. However, he stressed that such an arrangement would require the central government's green light.
Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng speaks to reporters at The Plaza Restaurant in Zape on Friday. Photo: GCS
