With effect from the stroke of midnight on Wednesday (August 25), people intending to travel between Macau and the neighbouring Guangdong province, in mainland China, must hold a nucleic acid test certificate issued within seven days proving they are ‘negative’ for Covid-19 infection.
That is a relaxation from the 48-hour validity rule that had been introduced on August 9.
A spokesperson for Macau’s Public Security Police, Lei Tak Fai, announced the easing of the test requirement at a Monday press briefing from the city’s Novel Coronavirus Coordination and Response Centre. The measure covers direct inbound and outbound land trips between Macau and Guangdong.
Between August 4 and the morning of August 9, it had been requested to people travelling between Guangdong and Macau the presentation of a certificate issued within 12 hours of departure, showing a ‘negative’ result for Covid-19. That was after a family of four in Macau being infected with the Delta variant of Covid-19, which led to the temporary tightening of cross-border travel rules.
Mainland China is the only place to have a mostly quarantine-free travel bubble with Macau. But since July 31, people intending to enter Macau on a direct flight from mainland China must hold a nucleic acid test certificate issued within 48 hours. The measure remains in place and covers flights arriving in Macau from any mainland Chinese city, according to the local authorities.
Impacted by disruption to travel to Macau, the city’s average daily casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) dipped in early August compared to July, said brokerage Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd, citing its own channel checks. But the industry has been performing better in recent weeks, as travel restrictions have been gradually eased, said the institution in a Monday note.
