Hotel quarantine shortened to two weeks for Macau residents

The Health Bureau has announced that from March 28, residents entering the city from non-mainland locations will have their quarantine period shortened to 14 days.

Public health doctor Leong Iek Hou, division chief at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), announced the new arrangements at the weekly health press briefing held yesterday.

However, the local government has not lifted its entry ban on non-Greater China citizens. For the time being, only citizens of Macau, mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are permitted to enter Macau.

Although the news was welcomed by residents, health self-
management for seven days is still required following the two weeks of hotel quarantine.

After concluding two weeks of centralized quarantine at designated hotels, the released arrivals will see their health codes turned yellow, indicating that restrictions apply to their travel within Macau.

Under measures imposed by the Health Bureau, people with yellow health codes are not allowed to enter government venues, hotels and resorts, or take public transport. The ban on public transport usage is generally not enforced, however, as most bus drivers do not have time to check the health codes of each passenger.

In addition, released arrivals will not be allowed to travel to mainland China.

During the seven-day self-management period, they are required to take four SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid tests (NATs). The compulsory NATs must be taken on the first, second, fourth and seventh days following release from hotel quarantine.

Missing any of the four required tests will result in the individuals’ health codes turning red. A red health code signals that a person is barred from entering any premises. To resolve the red health code, they will need to obtain a negative NAT result.

Despite the government’s recent emphasis on the risks of a possible outbreak in Macau, the decision to shorten hotel quarantine was announced abruptly.

Teachers, students from Zhuhai  to go online

Luis Gomes, acting department head for non-tertiary education at the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ), told yesterday’s press conference that considering new SARS-CoV-2 infections were found in Zhuhai on March 17 and 18, teachers and students residing in, or having been to, the cordoned area in the neighboring city should refrain from returning to schools in Macau. Such individuals have been told to remain in their homes.

Gomes admitted that it was still unclear when they will be allowed back to school because, as of yesterday, no news on the reopening of the cordoned areas in Zhuhai had been announced publicly or delivered to the Macau government.

He recommends that teachers, parents and students stay tuned for possible updates. The DSEDJ will also leave enough time for them to prepare for their return after announcing the resumption of their face-to-face classes.

Asked when NAT validity for travel between Macau and Zhuhai will be extended, Leong said that the local government was constantly monitoring the situation. Communications with its Zhuhai and Guangdong counterparts were also ongoing. When an update becomes available, details will be announced.

Gov’t compares Macau to Singapore

At yesterday’s press briefing, Leong compared the vaccination rates of Macau and Singapore, the first time that the government has undertaken such a comparison.

However, there was a time difference between the data presented. The Singaporean data was cut off on March 15, while Macau’s ran until March 23.

Leong noted that, in Singapore, the 5-to-11 year age group is the only one that has not reached a 90% vaccination rate. Then, she highlighted that in Macau, the vaccination rate in five out of nine age groups is below 90%.

A point that she did not mention is that two age groups in Macau have reached a nearly 100% vaccination rate, a percentage higher than any in the Singaporean data.

Afterwards, she presented a combination of three bar charts showing data collected in Hong Kong. The public health doctor used this slide to stress the importance of getting vaccinated, because it helps avoid severity of disease in cases of Covid-19.

Leong then announced that the government will again send SMS messages to residents over the age of 60 years to remind them to get jabbed.

Despite Leong’s presentation, a social media user expressed his opinion on the situation on the social media page of the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre. The user pointed out that, previously, the government had advertised that adult vaccination would help protect seniors, young people and the vulnerable. Seeing vaccination rates in age groups 20 to 59 years surpassing 90%, the user then questioned why the government is now forcing the young, the old and the vulnerable to get jabbed.

Another user urged the government to provide the numbers of people who died of complications from vaccination and those who died of Covid-19 for comparison.