Overseas residents may seek Chinese embassy’s help to return to Macau

Overseas Macau local residents who wish to return to Macau have been suggested to seek help from Chinese embassy if they wish to return to Macau, according to Inés Chan, representative of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO).

During today’s daily press conference of the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center, Chan reported that MGTO has received a total of 28 assistance requests from overseas Macau students. Seven students’ contact and personal information were confirmed; the other 21 did not provide their contact or personal information to MGTO.

These students, who wish to return to Macau, asked the SAR government to arrange transportation to fetch them from the Hong Kong International Airport back to Macau. They also expressed their dissatisfaction towards the fact that they cannot obtain a Covid-19-free test result in their current staying country, which is the UK.

Chan suggested these Macau local residents to try seeking help from the Chinese embassy because she had learnt that the Chinese embassy planned to arrange charter flights to bring Chinese citizens to Mainland China. The MGTO representative recommended these Macau residents to contact Chinese embassy.

On April 6, Hong Kong suspended the assistance to Macau’s charter buses travelling to Macau, leaving no option for the Macau local government to collect Macau residents at the Hong Kong airport.

Since April 15, the Macau SAR government has been requiring all passengers to present a Covid-19-free test proof before they board their flights to Macau. Local residents are no exception.

As to what the Macau local government can do to help overseas Macau residents getting the test, Chan responded “we try our best to assist them.”

The Macau SAR government is able to provide consultancy, and to provide specific documents and proofs for overseas Macau residents upon the requests of the concerned individuals.

Regarding the Covid-19-free proof, Lo Iek Long, medical director of the Conde São Januário Hospital (CHCSJ), believes that it is reasonable for the Macau SAR government to implement the Covid-19 proof measure.

“We request the test to protect aircraft cabin crew and other passengers,” said Lo, who also believes that it is possible for Macau residents to get a test proof overseas.

“We are unable to provide the tests outside everywhere,” said Lo.

Previously, the local government had planned to adjust entry policies for non-local workers in April. As of Friday, no updates were issued concerning this topic.

Commenting on non-local workers entry policy plan, Lo said that the Chief Executive and principal government officials will assess the situation and make future policy changes.

9th day without new cases, another recovered

Friday marks the ninth day in a row without new Covid-19 cases. Meanwhile, another Covid-19 patient has fully recovered.

With this patient’s recovery, Macau now has 28 patients under medical care in hospital.

The recovered patient is the 19^th case. He is a 19-years-old who returned to Macau on March 21 after flying from New York to Hong Kong on March 20. During the hotel quarantine, his mother was confirmed with Covid-19 infection. He was then listed as a close contact. On March 22, he tested positive for Covid-19.

The patient was hospitalized for 27 days in total.

Starting from Friday, he will be under a 14-day convalesce isolation period at Coloane isolation facility.