Starting from the stroke of midnight on October 24 (Sunday), travellers arriving in China’s capital Beijing from Macau are no longer required to undergo a 14-day period of “centralised medical observation” and a further seven-day “health monitoring” period. Beijing-bound air passengers from Macau will also be exempt from a Covid-19 virus test upon arrival, from Sunday.
The information was confirmed by Macau’s Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre in a Friday update. Beijing is easing its travel restrictions for those arriving via Macau as the latter city had now “stabilised” its Covid-19 outlook, the centre said.
Starting from Sunday, travellers boarding Beijing-bound flights from Macau are only required to present a nucleic acid test result issued within 48 hours proving they are ‘negative’ for Covid-19 infection.
Individuals in Macau that have had “close contact” with Covid-19 confirmed cases are nonetheless barred from entering Beijing until they have waited for seven days after completing a quarantine process within Macau, according to the Macau government’s Friday update.
People living in what Macau had previously designated either as “red-” or “yellow”-coded zones, i.e., areas deemed to be respectively either high- or medium-risk for spreading Covid-19 due to confirmed Covid-19 cases occurring nearby – are also barred from entering Beijing until they have waited for seven days from the time the colour-code alert is lifted from their residential zones, the notice also mentioned.
Beijing also has entry conditions on any travellers to the capital who hold Hong Kong ID but are flying via Macau. Such people will need to complete a 21-day quarantine in Macau before being able to make their onward journey to Beijing.
Macau had seen a number of fresh travel restrictions in place since late September, following new Covid-19 cases confirmed in the city. Those restrictions included a 14-day compulsory quarantine imposed by the authorities in neighbouring Zhuhai, Guangdong province, on travellers from Macau, a condition which was only lifted on October 19.
