Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U has said that the Macau government will send a letter to the Consulate-General of Japan in Hong Kong asking why Japan has listed Macau among a group of countries and regions with a higher COVID-19 risk than mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Ao Ieong made the remarks while speaking to reporters on Saturday after attending a graduation ceremony on the campus of the private City University of Macau (CityU) in Taipa.
Japan will conditionally open its borders to foreign tourists from next month, and has classified countries and regions worldwide in three different-risk groups, namely Red (highest risk), Yellow (medium risk), and Blue (lowest risk). Travellers from the three groups of countries and regions will be subject to different levels of COVID-19 measures upon arrival.
Regardless of having been vaccinated against COVID-19 or not, travellers from the Red group will need to undergo testing and quarantine upon arrival in Japan.
Travellers who have received three COVID-19 jabs from the Yellow group will not need to undergo quarantine upon arrival in Japan, but otherwise will have to quarantine.
Regardless of having been vaccinated or not, all travellers from the Blue group will not need to undergo quarantine upon arrival in Japan.
Japan’s authorities have classified mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan as Blue countries and regions, while Macau has been classified as a Yellow region.
Ao Ieong noted on Saturday that Macau’s COVID-19 vaccination rate has reached almost 90 percent, because of which, she said, Japan’s classification for travellers from Macau will not have any major impact on Macau residents in general who plan to visit Japan.
Nevertheless, Ao Ieong said that the Macau government “does not encourage” residents to visit any foreign countries because those returning to Macau from foreign countries must undergo 14 days of hotel quarantine.
Ao Ieong underlined that the COVID-19 information released by the Macau government is open and sufficient, adding that the information is released in the Chinese, English and Portuguese languages.
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U speaks to reporters on the City University of Macau’s (CityU) campus in Taipa on Saturday. Photo: GCS
