Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng ordered today the lifting of the government's special COVID-19 curbs from tomorrow.
Ho's executive order, which was published in the Official Gazette (BO) this morning, takes effect tomorrow.
According to the order, entertainment and recreation venues such as cinemas, karaoke bars, massage parlours and nightclubs can reopen tomorrow, when restaurant can again provide dine-in services. Casinos were allowed to reopen on July 23, after a government-ordered 12-day closure.
The special restrictions were imposed by the government on June 23, in the wake of the detection of the first case of what turned out to be Macau's worst COVID-19 outbreak since January 2020. A total of 1,821 cases have been confirmed since the June 18 outbreak, including six fatalities.
Meanwhile, the Novel Coronavirus and Response and Coordination Centre announced this morning that zero COVID-19 cases have been detected in the community for nine days.
A total of 707,277 nucleic acid test (NAT) samples were collected during the government's 14th mandatory NAT drive for all in Macau over the weekend, according to the centre.
Since January 22, 2020, Macau has recorded 791 confirmed and 1,378 asymptomatic COVID-19 cases, according to the centre.
The government's 10-day anti-COVID-19 consolidation period ends today. It will be followed by an initially weeklong stabilisation period starting tomorrow. Daily NATs will still be required for eight high-risk groups such as cleaners and security guards, while others going to work will have to undergo a NAT every three days.
Patrons of entertainment venues and restaurants will have to present a negative NAT result valid for three days to be allowed entry. The wearing of facemasks will remain mandatory also during the stabilisation period.
