The local government’s Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced in a statement last night that with effect from 6 a.m. tomorrow all air and ferry passengers departing from Macau must present a nucleic acid test (NAT) certificate confirming that they have tested negative for COVID-19 within the past seven days.
The statement said that the new measure is to protect the safety of crew members and other passengers.
The statement said that the NAT certificate can be displayed on the Macau Health Code.
The normal ferry service between Hong Kong and Macau has been suspended since early February due to the COVID-19 epidemic. The ongoing special ferry link between Hong Kong’s airport and Macau’s Taipa Ferry Terminal, which started on June 17, will run until Thursday.
The special ferry link run by the Macau government in collaboration with its Hong Kong counterpart enables Macau residents arriving at Hong Kong’s airport from overseas to return to Macau without having to undergo Hong Kong’s 14-day mandatory quarantine.
The special ferry link is also available to foreign nationals who have been stranded in Macau due to the COVID-19 pandemic so that they can travel to Hong Kong’s airport to return to their home countries – also without having to undergo the quarantine there. Macau residents who need to travel to a foreign country via a flight from Hong Kong’s airport can also use the special ferry service.
Macau’s public broadcaster TDM reported last night that several dozen Indian nationals stranded in Macau in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic peacefully protested outside the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal yesterday in an apparent attempt to put pressure on their consulate in Hong Kong to help them return to their home country.
