The Macau government has rolled out stricter rules for the hosting of banquets and other lunch and dinner gatherings, such as stricter COVID-19 testing requirements for guests and staff members, as Macau is facing a “very high” risk of being affected by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
From now those attending or working for catering events with over 200 guests must be tested for COVID-19 first, regardless of whether they have been inoculated against the novel coronavirus or not.
The government is urging those who have not received a COVID-19 booster jab to avoid attending banquets.
The Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced the new stricter rules in a statement yesterday.
The statement said that due to the latest COVID-19 developments globally and in neighbouring regions, there is a “very high” risk that the novel coronavirus could spread to Macau, because of which the Health Bureau (SSM) has drawn up new guidelines on the organisation of catering events. The statement underlined that the new guidelines aim to minimise the risk of the possible spread of COVID-19.
Previously, those attending banquets and other catering events with over 400 guests had to present a nucleic acid test (NAT) certificate confirming a negative COVID-19 result valid for seven days, or display a certificate confirming that they had been fully (twice) vaccinated against the novel coronavirus.
Yesterday’s statement said that according to the new guidelines, all those attending or working for banquets and other lunch and dinner gatherings with over 200 guests organised by public entities, private organisations and community associations must present an NAT certificate confirming a negative COVID-19 result.
Different NAT rules
According to the new guidelines, which have been published on the Health Bureau’s COVID-19 website, participants and staff members who have been fully vaccinated must present an NAT certificate confirming a negative COVID-19 result valid for seven days, if the negative COVID-19 NAT result for those commuting between Macau and Zhuhai is valid for seven days. However, participants and staff members who have not been fully inoculated must have a negative COVID-19 result valid for just 48 hours.
In case the negative COVID-19 NAT result for those commuting between Macau and Zhuhai is valid for just 48 hours or even shorter, according to the new guidelines, fully-vaccinated participants and staff members of banquets with over 200 guests must hold a negative COVID-19 result valid for 48 hours, while those who have not been fully inoculated must show a negative COVID-19 result valid for just 24 hours.
Currently, the negative COVID-19 NAT result for those entering Macau from Zhuhai is valid for just 24 hours, while the negative result for those entering Zhuhai from Macau is valid for seven days. Consequently, the negative COVID-19 NAT result for those commuting between the two cities is valid for just 24 hours in reality.
According to the new guidelines, the organisers of banquets with less than 200 guests can decide themselves whether to require participants and staff members to present an NAT certificate confirming a negative COVID-19 result after assessing the risk of the possible COVID-19 spread.
Regardless of the number of guests, according to the statement, the hosts of wedding, birthday and retirement banquets who want to make a toast must also get tested for COVID-19 in accordance with the guidelines.
Keeping contact lists for 28 days
The statement also said that according to the new guidelines, the organisers of banquets are required to collect the contact information of participants when they sign up for the events. The organisers must have the guests sign the attendance records when they enter the banquet venues, and keep the list of the guests and the number of the table where each guest sat for 28 days, for possible contact tracing by the government, if necessary, the statement said.
The organisers of banquets also need to check participants’ temperature, and require them to present a green Macau Health Code and scan the contact-tracing-function QR codes – aka venue codes – with their Macau Health Code mobile app, the statement said. The organisers must refuse admission to anyone with a fever or any respiratory symptoms and those with a yellow or red Macau Health Code, the statement said.
According to the statement, the new guidelines also advise all those who have not received a COVID-19 booster jab not to attend lunch and dinner gatherings.
Schoolchildren accompanied by their parents queue to be tested for COVID-19 outside the nucleic acid testing (NAT) station at the Qingmao checkpoint in Ilha Verde yesterday. The government said last night that around 9,300 students, teachers and staff had their swabs collected for COVID-19 tests yesterday, after four local schoolchildren had been identified as close contacts of a COVID-19 case in Zhuhai. The four COVID-19 close contacts resulted in 29 secondary close contacts. Photo courtesy of TDM
