Taking into account the arrival of the summer season, the government is enforcing new rules for booking quarantine hotels in Macau, the representative of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), Liz Lam said during the latest press briefing of the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center.
Questioned about the number of rooms available and ensuring that it is possible to accommodate all residents arriving from abroad (primarily students, as well as others traveling to meet their families during the period), Lam said that the authorities are coordinating with the quarantine hotels to allow pre-booking of rooms up to August, and any necessary adjustments will be made according to the number of reservations and demand for rooms.
The response comes after media sources reportedly found that hotels were only accepting quarantine room reservations for the month ahead, and not allowing residents to make bookings further out than that.
Dr Leong Iek Hou, coordinator at the local Center for Disease Control and Prevention, also announced that all those arriving from the mainland and who need to undergo quarantine in Macau due to arriving from high-risk zones do not need to book their quarantine rooms in advance.
“Those people coming from the mainland do not need to book the quarantine hotels. If, upon arrival in Macau, they need to undergo a medical observation period in quarantine, they will be redirected automatically to a hotel by the local health authorities,” she said. She noted that this measure aims to alleviate the pressure on the booking of quarantine hotel rooms by people who may potentially not need them.
Antiviral drugs arriving
Of the two antiviral drugs that the government has ordered, one has already arrived and the second should arrive soon.
“The drug from the German company [Merck] has already arrived but we have not made any use of it yet because we have not had anyone with severe disease symptoms,” Leong said, adding, “As for the Pfizer antiviral drug, it will arrive in the third quarter (July to September) of this year.”
Leong also said that the authorities are now seeking to confirm whether there is any further need to place any additional orders for these drugs, especially given that Macau has not seen any patients with severe symptoms that would justify the use of the antivirals.
