The Macau government has announced that the number of mandatory hotel isolation days for people entering from outside of mainland China will be changed from “7+3” to “5+3” from Saturday 12 November.
On Friday, China’s National Health Commission announced a change in its epidemic prevention policy, shortening the isolation period for entry into China to “5+3” and abolishing the flight cut-off mechanism under which an airline’s inbound flights were suspended in instances where a certain number of people tested positive to COVID-19 upon landing.
The Macau government’s epidemic prevention policy follows that of mainland China.
Speaking at a press conference, Health Bureau Director Alvis Lo said the Macau government has followed the national policy and changed the entry prevention measures for people entering Macau from Hong Kong, Taiwan and foreign countries to “5+3” starting from Saturday (12 November), meaning five days of hotel quarantine and three days of home isolation.
Lo said, “After five days of [hotel quarantine], the health code will turn red and the person will be isolated at home for three days. During the home isolation period, the person is not allowed to go out other than for nucleic acid testing. They are not allowed to go to restaurants or shopping malls.
“The government allows home isolators to have cohabitants and allows home isolators to order takeaway meals, so I believe there is no problem with home isolators’ diet.”
The National Health Commission has made a number of changes to its policy, including reducing the isolation period for close contacts to “5+3”. Lo said the Macau government will continue to follow the national policy, but other measures are still being studied and the government does not want to announce too much information at this time.
The government has previously permitted entry into Macau for visitors from 41 specific countries, although they are still required to undergo quarantine. At Friday’s press conference, Macao Government Tourism Office representatives said they believed the relaxation of quarantine requirements would attract more visitors to Macau.
