With effect from 6pm on Sunday (October 30), people intending to travel between Macau and the neighbouring city of Zhuhai, in the mainland province of Guangdong, must hold a nucleic acid test certificate issued within 24 hours proving they are ‘negative’ for Covid-19 infection. The rule will be effective up to November 4 inclusive, according to an announcement by Macau’s Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre.
The statement said the decision followed an “agreement reached” via a cross-border liaison system known as the “Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism between Zhuhai and Macau”.
The Macau government stated on Sunday that everyone in the city must daily self-administer a Covid-19 test, starting from Sunday up to Tuesday (November 1) inclusive, and upload the result to an official database. The decision followed the identification of new Covid-19 infections in Macau.
On Sunday, the city’s health authorities sealed the public entrances at the MGM Cotai gaming resort, as one worker from its casino tested ‘positive’ that day for Covid-19. Its casino, shops and restaurants have also been shut. The property will be closed for at lest three days.
The case that led to that venue being sealed concerns a 43-year-old female casino table games dealer, who was on duty at the property between October 26 and 28. The authorities said meanwhile that her two sons, as well as a neighbour, had also tested ‘positive’ for Covid-19.
The head of the city’s Health Bureau, Alvis Lo Iek Long, said on Sunday that the “source of infection and transmission chain” of the freshly-discovered Covid-19 cases “were clear”. He added that the health authorities would “decide on the next steps” after the results of the city-wide self-administer Covid-19 tests.
Macau’s Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre said the Covid-19 test validity period for crossing the Macau-Zhuhai boundary might “be resumed to 48 hours” from November 5, provided that the “epidemic-related development becomes stable”.
Any person travelling to Zhuhai from Macau must also make “an advanced health declaration” via the official channels of the Zhuhai health authorities. They are also required to do a second test for Covid-19 “within 48 hours” of arrival in Zhuhai.
