Macau’s 14-day ban on air travel from outside China to Macau will end after the stroke of midnight on Monday (January 24), according to a Friday announcement of the city’s Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre.
The measure was introduced on January 9, At the time, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre said it would run for 14 days. On Thursday, Macau’s health authorities said they were still considering whether to extend the flight ban.
The flight ban announcement had coincided with recent cases of highly-transmissible Omicron-variant Covid-19 infection, identified among a number of air travellers returning to Macau from overseas.
Under Macau’s “closed loop” system for managing Covid-19, all air travellers from overseas must be immediately placed in quarantine for at least 21 days whether or not they have tested ‘positive’ on arrival.
Friday’s announcement by the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre introduced a fresh requirement for inbound air travellers: people aged 12 and above must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 in order to be allowed into Macau.
Other measures introduced on January 6 will continue in place. That means that, prior to their departure to Macau, travellers from places labelled by the Macau authorities as ‘extremely high-risk’ areas for Covid-19, are required to present a proof of three ‘negative’ Covid-19 nucleic acid test results issued within five days and at least 24 hours apart. These travellers are subject to a 28-day quarantine on arrival in Macau, according to the city’s health authorities.
