The resumption date of the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) for those visiting Macau from mainland China is expected to become clear at the end of April, according to Macau Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng.
The Chief Executive said Macau is maintaining close communications with Guangdong Province and Hong Kong regarding current entry restrictions and had received positive responses from the mainland central government about IVS. The government will announce the latest measures once consensus is reached.
“If we can keep controlling the COVID-19 epidemic and avoid the outbreak within the community, we should have the conditions to resume the IVS and the border entry policies could go back to normal in the near future,” Ho said.
Resumption of IVS, which accounted for 46.8% of the 27.9 million mainland Chinese to enter Macau in 2019, will likely see the SAR implement a code system which could connect with the mainland’s “healthy code” system, including COVID-19 tests on all visitors.
