Same-day SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen tests (RAT) will not be required for travelers from Macau to Hong Kong from today, the Hong Kong government has told a press conference.
Amid the Chinese State Council further lifting pre-travel Covid-19 requirements, the Hong Kong government has also decided to ease more restrictions.
Following this change, the Macau government has also announced people who want to enter mainland China from Macau but who have travelled to Hong Kong in the past seven days before entering mainland China will no longer need a SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test (NAT). This new arrangement also starts today.
Thus, travel between mainland China, Macau and Hong Kong will be test-free from today.
However, “the pre-departure testing requirement for inbound persons from overseas or Taiwan will be maintained at this juncture,” the Hong Kong government added.
The Hong Kong government will also lift vaccination requirements for all fly-in passengers from today.
Also, travel between Hong Kong and China will no longer be held to a daily limit, authorities announced Friday, as both places seek to drive economic growth.
“From Monday, there will be a full resumption of travel between Hong Kong and the mainland,” Hong Kong leader John Lee said Friday at a news briefing.
Lee said quotas for travelers will be scrapped and all boundary checkpoints will reopen next week.
The announcement came a day after Lee unveiled a tourism campaign aimed at attracting travelers to Hong Kong that includes 500,000 free air tickets for tourists to visit the semi-autonomous Chinese city.
China had already eased travel restrictions with Hong Kong on Jan. 8, dropping a mandatory quarantine period required for travelers entering the mainland. However, the number of travelers entering the mainland from Hong Kong via land checkpoints was limited to 50,000 a day.
Meanwhile, group tours will also resume from today from the mainland to the Special Administrative Regions (SARs). The State Council said border checkpoints between mainland China and the SARs should be open to maximum capacity.
The Macao Government Tourism Office has announced mainland group tours will receive subsidies. AL
