The Macau government tightened tonight its outbound travel regulations in the wake of the "extremely high risk" of an outbreak of COVID-19 in the city.
The government's Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre said in a statement after midnight that in line with the local government's COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control measures, as well as the Zhuhai-Macau Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism taking effect at 6 a.m. today, people leaving Macau must have proof of a negative nucleic acid test (NAT) result obtained within 24 hours before passing through immigration at the city's border checkpoints.
The centre stressed that the government's current anti-pandemic prevention and control measures concerning those entering Macau will remain unchanged.
The centre urged residents and tourists to avoid going out unless necessary, and to stay at home as much as possible. It also urged the public to strictly follow the government's COVID-19 prevention and control measures.
The government warned the public earlier tonight of the "extremely high risk" of a community outbreak of COVID-19.
Macau is one of just nine countries and territories in the world with zero COVID-19 fatalities.
