122 residents of Hubei choose to remain in Macau

There are currently 122 residents of Hubei Province still in Macau, according to the Public Security Police Force (PSP), citing data last updated yesterday morning.

Hubei Province is home to the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the Covid-19 coronavirus and from where 57 Macau residents were evacuated over the weekend.

Lei Tak Fai, head of Public Relations Division of the PSP, said that these Hubei people, who hold a variety of different visas, have been in Macau for longer than 14 days.

Normal Hong Kong and Macau tourist visas issued by the mainland are valid for seven days. Some other visas, such as the relative-visiting visa, are valid for as long as three months. This may explain their length of stay.

Although the Hubei natives are still in Macau, the Health Bureau has reiterated that if no symptoms develop after 14 days (the most common incubation period for the disease), they are considered healthy and should be allowed to remain in the city under the permitted conditions of their travel documents.

The Macau government implemented a measure in early February, requiring people from Hubei or who have been in Hubei in the last 14 days to present a medical certificate that confirms they are uninfected upon their arrival at any border checkpoint. Residents of Hubei who also hold Macau residency are not affected by the restriction.

Between late January and early February, about 150 people from Hubei were in Macau. Authorities said they searched all corners of the city to pinpoint and track them.

Measures requiring any Hubei people in Macau to either leave the city or undergo self-funded quarantine at the Pousada Marina Infante were later put in place.

As of February 9, some 100 people from Hubei had chosen to remain in Macau, after being released from quarantine facilities after 14 days. AL