Majority of hotel quarantine guests non-locals

The majority of the medically observed quarantine periods hosted within Macau hotels have been completed by non-residents, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre has said in a response to an inquiry from the Times.

According to figures cited by Dr. Leong Iek Hou, yesterday, from a total of 60,208 quarantine periods hosted in Macau, 35,857 – or 59.6% – were completed by non-residents, including non-resident workers and tourists.

The figures show that the number of non-residents in quarantine hotels has been systematically higher than the number of residents for a long time. However, health authorities claim that they are prioritizing access to quarantine hotel venues for residents.

Questioned yesterday once again by the media, Lau Fong Chiu from the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) stated that the government is prioritizing access to quarantine facilities for local residents, with special priority given to those already on waiting lists.

Leong also said that a new group of approximately 30 students from Macau studying in universities in Hong Kong wish to return by the end of this month. However, there are currently no guarantees that this will be possible, due to the lack of rooms in the Treasure Hotel.

waived quarantine payments unknown

When questioned by the Times, Lau said that she did not have data on the number of exemptions granted by the government to local residents in relation to quarantine fee payments.

She explained that there are several situations in which quarantine fee payments can be waived for residents, and that this depends on the resident making a formal request and meeting eligibility criteria.

She also noted that some cases were not resolved immediately, as authorities call upon residents to provide more information and justification. In particular, this may affect cases in which the person has been absent from Macau for over 183 days.