With effect from the stroke of midnight today (Monday, April 25), people intending to travel to Macau from the neighbouring Guangdong province, in mainland China, must hold a nucleic acid test certificate issued within 72 hours proving they are ‘negative’ for Covid-19 infection.
Mainland China is the only place to have a mostly quarantine-free travel bubble with Macau. Guangdong is the largest-single source of tourists to Macau.
The latest easing of the test requirement was announced on Sunday by Macau’s Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre.
Macau authorities had previously announced that starting from April 20 people travelling to Macau from Guangdong – via any land or marine checkpoints – had to hold a Covid-19 test certificate issued within 48 hours, instead of the previously-maintained 24 hours.
The 24-hour validity rule had been introduced on March 18, coinciding with an uptick of Covid-19 infections in mainland China.
Data disclosed by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) on Sunday showed the city received an average daily tally of over 22,000 visitor arrivals on Friday and Saturday, following implementation of the 48-hour test rule. Macau had seen a daily average of around 19,000 visitor arrivals from April 15 to April 21, according to MGTO.
Guangdong province-bound travellers departing from Macau are required – as previously – to present a nucleic acid test certificate issued with seven days, proving they are negative for novel coronavirus infection, the Macau Covid-19 task force reiterated in its Sunday announcement.
Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of Macao Government Tourism Office, told local reporters over the weekend, she hoped the city would receive a daily tally of more than 25,000 visitor arrivals during the upcoming five-day Labour Day break in May. The holiday period is designated by China’s State Council to run from April 30 to May 4.
