Authorities in Macau’s neighbouring city of Zhuhai, Guangdong province, announced in the evening of Thursday (September 30) that a 14-day compulsory quarantine for travellers inbound from Macau will be kept in place for now. No time frame for an eventual lifting of the measure was mentioned.
The measure was previously scheduled to run until the end of Thursday.
The quarantine requirement excludes people working either in the logistics industry, funerals sector or in medical services.
A statement issued by the Macau government on Thursday evening confirmed that, after “a long negotiation”, the Guangdong provincial government had decided to keep in place its boundary-crossing quarantine rule for people travelling from Macau. The note followed a meeting via video-conference between government representatives respectively from Macau, Zhuhai and Guangdong.
The compulsory quarantine measure was introduced by Zhuhai authorities on September 26, linked to the risk of a community outbreak of Covid-19 in Macau, after two men living in Macau were confirmed as infected. Both worked as security guards in a hotel used by the city authorities for Covid-19 compulsory quarantine procedures.
A total of four additional cases also involving security guards in quarantine hotels were confirmed on Tuesday.
Zhuhai is the main gateway to Macau for mainland China visitors. JP Morgan Securities (Asia-Pacific) Ltd said in a Sunday note that without clarity on when the inbound quarantine to Zhuhai would be ultimately lifted, many Chinese tourists were likely to cancel their trips to Macau, “to avoid risk of being quarantined upon their return to the mainland”.
Several tourism industry insiders had last week told GGRAsia – before the new Covid-19 cases were reported – they were hopeful the October Golden Week festive period would bring many mainland visitors, particularly from Guangdong, to Macau.
Macau’s Chief Executive, Ho Iat Seng, admitted on Wednesday that even if Zhuhai dropped its inbound quarantine rule by National Day on Friday, it might not help Macau’s inbound tourism trade for the October Golden Week.
According to a check by GGRAsia, only five out of 25 hotels at major casino complexes in Macau were sold out – as of Thursday – for at least four nights during China’s October Golden Week holiday period, running from October 1 to October 7.
