The Macau government has announced an official end to quarantine requirements for all nationalities entering Macau as of this Sunday 8 January 2023.
The new measures will not only mean no more nucleic acid test (NAT) requirement for people entering Macau from mainland China – mirroring a similar measure announced by Beijing earlier in the day for entry from Macau – but all nationalities will be allowed to enter Macau without quarantine and all health management measures upon entry into Macau will also be abolished. Foreigners will, however, still be required to take a NAT test shortly before arrival.
The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Ao Ieong U, said the Macau government changed its preventive measures immediately after China’s State Council eased the mainland’s own restrictions on Thursday.
The new measures to be introduced in Macau on 8 January include:
- Macau International Airport to resume transfer services
- All foreign nationals are allowed to enter Macau, restoring the border situation to its 2019 status
- The requirements around declaration of health status at all ports of entry and of post-entry health management will be abolished
- For those entering Macau from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, there will no longer be any NAT test upon entry
- Those entering Macau from foreign countries will be required to present a negative NAT result obtained within the previous 48 hours or show RAT test result at the time of boarding the plane or ship
- People entering Macau from Hong Kong, Taiwan and foreign countries will be required to undergo a 48-hour nucleic acid test if they wish to travel to Mainland China within 7 days of entry
Beijing announced earlier in the day that, starting from 8 January, no NAT test will be required for entry from Macau. With Macau now reciprocating, the border control situation between the two jurisdictions will effectively return to the pre-pandemic situation from next week.
The director of the Macau Health Bureau, Alvis Lo, said, “60% to 70% of the population in Macau has already been infected, and according to health information they will not be re-infected within three to six months after infection.
“The transition period will [therefore] end after January 8 and COVID will become an endemic disease in Macau.”
