With effect from the start of Saturday (July 10), Macau is easing the Covid-19 test rules for those seeking quarantine-free travel from the mainland’s neighbouring Guangdong province. From that time, any test certificate issued within seven days of arrival in Macau will be accepted, rather than the people needing a certificate issued within 48 hours of arrival, the current requirement.
The relaxation in the test certificate rules will apply regardless of whether the traveller is vaccinated against Covid-19. The update was given by Macau health official Tai Wa Hou, at a Thursday press briefing by the city’s Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre.
“The risk of the Covid-19 situation in Guangdong has subsided”, said Mr Tai, a director at Conde S. Januário public hospital. He added that “not all age groups of travellers are suited” to Covid-19 vaccination.
Fresh cases of Covid-19 infection in Guangdong had been reported since late May, and as a result on June 8, the Macau government had introduced the 48-hour test rule.
The Macau authorities had also increased in June the number of mainland communities in Guangdong where residents would be subject to 14-day quarantine on arrival in Macau.
It was only on the evening of July 7 that the last of a number of Guangdong communities was removed from a 14-day-quarantine-on-arrival list.
During Thursday’s press briefing, Mr Tai reiterated that the Macau authorities were still assessing the latest situation regarding Covid-19 in Hong Kong, before deciding whether they would allow quarantine-free inbound travel via the neighbouring city. Such assessment also involved discussion with mainland Chinese authorities, Mr Tai noted to the media.
