All foreigners can enter Macao from Sunday, local authorities announced Thursday, ending a pandemic prevention and containment measure implemented nearly three years ago.
“The measures that limited the entry of people with foreign passports to Macao are eliminated (…), that is, the entry measures will return to those that were applied before 2019, before Covid-19,” he said, in a conference press. , Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Elsie Ao Ieong U.
The official also pointed out that, as of Sunday, “sanitary management control measures are eliminated” at the entrance to the territory.
In addition, Elsie Ao Ieong U said, anyone arriving in the administrative region from abroad – with the exception of Hong Kong and Taiwan – must present “a certificate of rapid antigen test or nucleic acid test for Covid-19 with a positive result.” negative made inside”. 48 hours”.
All passengers arriving in the territory who wish to enter mainland China within seven days must also present a test certificate within 48 hours.
Macau closed its borders to foreigners without resident status in March 2020.
In April last year, the territory lifted border restrictions on Filipino workers, university students and foreign teaching professionals such as Portuguese teachers. The exemption was later extended to Indonesian workers.
In May, the region approved the entry into the territory of all non-resident Portuguese, as well as foreign spouses and minor children of local residents.
Four months later, non-resident workers and family members of residents were allowed entry, as well as travelers from 41 countries.
Macao, which, like the interior of China, followed the ‘Covid zero’ policy, betting on massive tests, confinement of risk areas and quarantines, announced in early December the cancellation of most prevention and containment measures, after almost three years of strict restrictions.
Until January 4, 2023, 250,000 people, that is, 37% of the local population, confirmed through an ‘online’ platform that they were infected, highlighted the Secretary of Social Affairs and Culture, noting, however, that there were those who did not declare the disease and, therefore, the number of those affected “could be very distant”.
“According to our monitoring and our estimates, we consider that 70% of the workers and professionals of the health system have been infected. As for students, we have around 50 to 60% and teachers around 70%, so the infected in the total population of Macao is around 60% to 70%,” he said.
According to the Macao Health Services, 63 people have died from covid-19 since the start of the pandemic.
Source: TSF
