Korea, Taiwan join growing list of countries and regions requiring NAT of Macau arrivals
South Korea and Taiwan are adding extra restrictions on either all or certain entrants from Macau, due to the Covid-19 outbreak occurring in this region.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency has recently announced that from Jan. 7, all arrivals from Macau and Hong Kong will be required to produce a negative SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test (NAT) result obtained within 48 hours before scheduled flight departure before being permitted to board the flight.
Prior to this latest announcement, the same agency had implemented the same restrictions on arrivals from mainland China. South Korea has also decided to stop issuing tourist visas to mainland Chinese residents.
Meanwhile, according to a report by the English platform of the Central News Agency in Taiwan, mainland Chinese entrants to Taiwan who transit through Macau or Hong Kong will be need to produce a negative NAT result upon arrival on the island.
Citing the Central Epidemic Command Center in Taiwan, the news agency reported that these travelers must produce either a negative NAT result obtained within two days pre-departure from mainland China, or a negative rapid antigen test (RAT) taken within 24 hours of departure.
Taiwan is expecting an influx of returnees from mainland China – most of them businesspeople and workers – during the upcoming Lunar New Year period.
Japan had earlier announced that flights from Macau, Hong Kong and mainland China will only be accepted by four airports, namely Narita and Haneda Airports in Tokyo, Kansai Airport in Osaka and Chubu Centrair International Airport in Nagoya.
Besides Taiwan and South Korea, several European countries have also imposed pre-departure NAT requirements on mainland Chinese arrivals, such as France, Italy, Spain and England.
At the same time, Australia, Canada, the US, Japan, India and Israel are among non-European countries that have implemented similar requirements for mainland Chinese arrivals.
The African country of Morocco has now banned entrants from the People’s Republic of China, regardless of their nationalities, according to various media sources.
The aforementioned countries and regions said the move was made to curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2 as they were not clear about the situation in China.
