The Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced in a statement last night that from today all air passengers from the mainland must present a nucleic acid test (NAT) certificate confirming that they have tested negative for COVID-19 within the past 48 hours when boarding a Macau-bound plane, a change from the seven-day-validity requirement which had been in force until yesterday.
The statement said that non-local residents failing to present the required NAT certificate will be barred from entering Macau.
However, according to the statement, the new measure has a transition period until 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, during which those holding an NAT certificate confirming a negative COVID-19 result valid for a period of between 48 hours and seven days will be allowed to enter Macau but will have to undergo a free nucleic acid test immediately upon their arrival at the local airport.
Last night’s statement said that the Macau government has decided to tighten the validity of the negative NAT result for all air passengers from the mainland in response to the latest COVID-19 developments there. The new 48-hour-validity requirement took effect at 00:00 today.
The National Health Commission (NHC) said yesterday that the current COVID-19 wave in the mainland, which started early last week, has spread to at least 11 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. The ongoing novel coronavirus epidemic in the mainland has been caused by transmissions of the Delta variant.
Over the past week, the Macau government has imposed hotel quarantine on arrivals from certain districts in Beijing as well as certain cities in Gansu, Guizhou, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Shaanxi and Xinjiang. The required quarantine on the arrivals will last from at least seven days to up to 14 days after they had left the respective districts or cities.
The validity of the negative result for those entering Macau from Guangdong, i.e., from Zhuhai via land border checkpoints and from Shenzhen by ferry – remains unchanged at seven days, without having to quarantine upon their arrival in Macau.
Those entering the mainland from Macau, i.e., Guangdong and all other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities – must present an NAT certificate confirming a negative COVID-19 result valid for 48 hours.
Recovery certificate from previous COVID-19 patients
Meanwhile, the centre announced in a statement on Saturday that from today those who had previously been infected with COVID-19 are only allowed to board a Macau-bound plane at least two months after the onset of the novel coronavirus disease or after having their first COVID-19 test with a positive result. In addition, according to the statement, the air passengers must present a certificate issued by medical institutions at the place from where they depart confirming that they have fully recovered from the novel coronavirus disease.
HK people in Macau can only enter mainland at least 7 days after 14-day quarantine here
Meanwhile, all those arriving in Macau from Hong Kong are only allowed to enter the mainland from Macau at least seven days after completing their required 14-day hotel quarantine upon their arrival in Macau. The new measure, which was announced by the centre in a statement on Friday, took effect at 00:00 on Saturday.
The Macau government reduced the number of days of hotel quarantine for arrivals from Hong Kong from 21 days to 14 days in March this year, but with seven-day post-quarantine “self-health management” still in place at that time. The Macau government lifted its then seven-day “self-health management” for arrivals from Hong Kong in late April this year, meaning that since then those who have completed their 14-day hotel quarantine in Macau after arriving from Hong Kong have no longer had to practise “self-health management”.
Friday’s statement underlined that the current COVID-19 border and quarantine measures for those entering Macau from Hong Kong, which has been in force since late April, will remain unchanged.
Currently, those entering the mainland from Hong Kong must undergo 14 days of hotel quarantine plus seven days of “self-health monitoring”.
According to recent Hong Kong media reports, some Hong Kong residents had chosen to enter Guangdong via Macau and Zhuhai – instead of via Shenzhen – so as to circumvent the seven-day “self-health monitoring” required by the mainland health authorities, before the new measure by the Macau government took effect on Saturday.
Macau has not recorded a new local COVID-19 case for 15 consecutive days after the latest case was confirmed on October 9. Macau’s COVID-19 tally stands at 77, without any fatalities.
Macau had a total of 12 patients in its latest COVID-19 wave, which the Health Bureau (SSM) has concluded has stabilised, comprising a six-member cluster of quarantine hotel security staff and a six-member renovation worker cluster. While the security staff cluster started on September 25, the renovation worker cluster began on October 4.
Macau’s total of 77 COVID-19 cases comprises 60 imported cases and 17 cases “connected to imported ones”.
Urging those planning pregnancy to get COVID-19 jabs
Meanwhile, in a statement on Saturday the centre reaffirmed that those who are planning a pregnancy should get inoculated against COVID-19 as soon as possible, adding that they do not need to postpone their planned pregnancy or take contraceptive measures after receiving their novel coronavirus jabs.
The statement said that pregnant women who have been infected with COVID-19 will have a higher risk of having a miscarriage or suffering a serious novel coronavirus condition, particularly for those in the late pregnancy period who will have a higher risk of suffering COVID-19 complications.
The Health Bureau said last week that research studies worldwide have indicated that pregnant women who have caught COVID-19 will run the risk of suffering a serious condition or dying from the disease seven times more than other women in general who have been infected with the novel coronavirus.
However, Saturday’s statement pointed out that the Macau government currently does not inoculate pregnant women against COVID-19 considering the city’s stable novel coronavirus situation. According to the statement, the World Health Organisation (WHO) suggests that COVID-19 vaccinations should be suspended for pregnant women in places which are not affected by COVID-19, unless they need to visit COVID-19 high-risk areas, considering that there is still a lack of research findings worldwide on the safety of China’s Sinopharm inactivated vaccine and Germany’s BioNTech mRNA vaccine for pregnant women, the two types of COVID-19 vaccines currently available in Macau.
The statement also reaffirmed that breast-feeding woman can be inoculated against COVID-19 with Sinopharm or BioNTech jabs.
A medical worker takes a swab sample from a woman for a nucleic acid test (NAT) at a sampling site in Yinchuan, the capital of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, on Saturday. Photo: Xinhua
