The Zhuhai government announced on Monday that the validity period of COVID-19 virus test results for people entering Zhuhai from Macau would be extended from 48 hours to 7 days from 1am on Tuesday 23 November.
The change represents another important step forward for Macau’s tourism industry, which continues to slowly recover from the impact of three consecutive COVID-19 outbreaks in August, September and October.
Zhuhai imposed a mandatory 14-day quarantine measure on all arrivals from Macau on 26 September before eventually lifting the restriction more than three weeks later on 19 October, after the 1 October holiday period. However, it has still required a negative virus test certificate obtained within 48 hours prior to arrival ever since.
Macau’s visitor arrivals reached 35,525 last Friday 19 November as the Grand Prix Macau and Food Festival were held – the highest daily visitor arrival figure since 25 September when Macau entered the state of immediate prevention.
Between 12 to 18 November, the number of visitor arrivals totalled 186,582 with a daily average of 26,655, representing an increase of 150.9% compared to the average daily visitor arrivals in October.
Macau has also slightly eased the virus test requirement for arrivals from Hong Kong, who must now present a negative virus test result obtained within the previous 72 hours, extended from 24 hours previously, as of 1am on 23 September. They are, however, still required to enter 14 days of hotel quarantine upon arrival.
