Domestic workers in Hong Kong line up at a temporary testing center for Covid-19
Allowing foreign arrivals, particularly domestic workers, is a “very difficult decision” to make, as most of them hail from high-risk countries, Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng said at a press conference yesterday.
Since March 25 2020, strict measures enacted to reduce the spread of Covid-19 have seen Macau’s borders closed to foreign entrants, leaving several hundred blue-card holders stranded in their home-countries.
Many took annual leave in the first quarter of last year as the city started to feel the effects of the pandemic during the last week of January.
According to Ho, allowing arrivals from high-risk countries would put the city at risk. He pointed to outbreaks in August and September which followed the return of two residents from Xian and Turkey, respectively.
The outbreaks led to the closure of government and entertainment facilities, the cancellation of public events and another round of mass testing, leading to a downturn in tourist arrivals. Another ramification was a regulation imposed by Zhuhai that requires travelers entering the region from Macau to undergo 14 days of quarantine.
“Macau cannot bear another blow,” said Ho, recalling that the previous outbreaks led to a slump in Golden Week arrivals. Just 8,159 visitors were recorded, a record low.
“There is a huge negative impact on the economy for each outbreak. Just a single [infected] person in a quarantine hotel spread the virus that caused the outbreak,” the CE said.
“As a result, Golden Week was gone. We had high expectations for that week [as did SMEs]. […] In every outbreak, SMEs suffered immense loss,” he added.
Since the virus is airborne, Ho said that “it is very difficult” to decide whether the government should allow foreign entrants, revealing that over 2,300 applications for entry have been received.
Last week, the government announced a string of new measures to strengthen the management of quarantine hotels, including the use of robots for providing contactless services to hotel guests in quarantine.
Notably, some security guards at a designated observation facility were infected with Covid-19 despite being vaccinated, as a returnee staying at the hotel was infected with the coronavirus.
Ho said that, despite the purchase of robots, there are still infection risks because some procedures require human interaction, such as conducting a nucleic acid test.
“We understand that quite a lot of residents are in need of domestic workers and they [have been] complaining. As the government, we need to seek balance,” Ho explained.
For the CE, the three outbreaks in a year have put significant strain on the economy.
“It has been two years since the pandemic started. Can we go on for another year? We’ve done our best to combat the outbreak, but we still experience immense loss in terms of the economy,” he reiterated.
Currently, the SAR government is paying close attention to Hong Kong’s statistics as the city gradually lifts entry restrictions. The neighboring region is allowing the arrival of domestic workers as long as they are fully vaccinated and undergo 21 days of quarantine.
Hong Kong is adding nearly 100 more quarantine rooms specifically for these arrivals, bringing its total number of rooms to around 2,000.
According to Ho, Macau is not capable of building such facilities because of its dense population.
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