Based on the latest characteristics of COVID-19 transmission and the Protocol for Prevention and Control of COVID-19 (9th Edition) published by the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council, Macau's Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced the following today:
With effect from Saturday, for arrivals from foreign countries, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) or the region of Taiwan, or individuals who have a history of travel to or residence in such places within 10 days, provided that their COVID-19 nucleic acid tests (NATs) are all negative upon entry into Macau and during the medical observation quarantine period, their period of quarantine, i.e., medical observation in isolation, will be shortened to seven days (the seventh day from the day after the date of arrival), followed by three days of self-health management (while the health code will turn yellow).
The arrangement is known as "7+3".
However, the arrivals will be subject to COVID-19 nucleic acid testing on the first, second, third, fifth and seventh day from the day following the day of their discharge from quarantine.
The measures are applicable to those who have completed the full course of primary vaccination against COVID-19, i.e., two jabs, as well as those who fail to complete the full course of vaccination due to age, illness or other reasons.
The relevant measures also apply to those who are currently in quarantine, the centre pointed out.
Thanks to its strict quarantine and other COVID-19 prevention and control measures, Macau has one of the world's lowest COVID-19 tallies and death tolls per capita, medical sources have told The Macau Post Daily.
As of today, Macau's COVID-19 tally stood at 791 confirmed and 1,379 asymptomatic cases, including six fatalities. Macau, which has a population of about 680,000, confirmed its first novel coronavirus case on January 22, 2020.
The six COVID-19-related deaths occurred during Macau's recent outbreak, the first case of which was detected on June 18. The six victims were senior citizens afflicted with a range of chronic illnesses. The outbreak subsided last week.
In the wake of its worst outbreak since January 2020, Macau entered today a weeklong stabilisation period in its ongoing fight against COVID-19. The outbreak has resulted in 1,821 cases.
